op  AN 


K\ 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 
AT   LOS  ANGELES 


JACK   HALL 


THE  SCHOOL  DAYS  OF  AN  AMERICAN 
BOY 


BT 

ROBERT  GRANT 

AUTHOR  OF  "  PACE  TO  FACE/'  "  THE  CONFESSIONS  OF  A  FBIVOLOU3  OIKL," 
STC. 


ILLUSTRATED  BY  F.  G.  ATTWOOD 


BOSTON 
JORDAN,  MARSH  AND  COMPANY 

1888 


Copyright,  1887, 
BT  JORDAN,  MARSH  &  CO. 


The  Riverride  Press,  Cambridge : 
Electrotyped  and  Printed  by  II.  0.  llougbton  &  Co. 


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MY   THREE    BOYS. 


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CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

PAGE 

How    JACK    SPENT    THE    FORENOON    OF    WASHINGTON'S 

BIRTHDAY         1 

CHAPTER  II. 
THE  SNOW-BALL  FIGHT 29 

CHAPTER  in. 
A  DAY  OF  RECKONING         .......      65 

CHAPTER  IV. 
JACK  GOES  TO  UTOPIA 96 

CHAPTER  V. 
DR.  MEREDITH 120 

CHAPTER  VI. 
FIRST  IMPRESSIONS 162 

CHAPTER  VII. 
HAZELTINE  MAKES  HIS  DEBUT 192 

CHAPTER  VIII. 
SETTLING  DOWN 230 


yi  CONTENTS. 

.  CHAPTER  IX. 
THK  Bio  FOUB 259 

CHAPTER  X. 
UP-HILL .    301 

CHAPTER  XL 
NIP  AND  TUCK      .       .  * 333 

CHAPTER  XIL 
HAZEI/TINB  HAKES  HIS  CHOICE      ......    377 


JACK  HALL. 


CHAPTER  I. 

HOW  JACK  SPENT  THE  FORENOON   OF   WASHING 
TON'S   BIRTHDAY. 

IT  was  a  bright  February  morning.  The  sun 
was  warm,  so  that  the  piles  of  snow  in  the  streets 
were  in  a  perfect  condition  for  snow-balling,  much 
to  the  satisfaction  of  a  medium-sized  boy  of  thirteen 
who  had  just  come  out  of  the  house  and  was  stand 
ing  on  his  doorsteps,  drawing  on  his  mittens.  His 
name  was  Jack  Hall,  and  he  wore  a  Scotch  cap,  a 
reefer,  and  a  pair  of  rubber  boots. 

As  soon  as  his  mittens  were  on  he  cleared  the  last 
two  steps  with  a  jump,  and,  plunging  his  hands  into 
the  nearest  snow-bank,  stood  patting  a  ball  into 
shape  while  he  looked  around.  The  street  on  which 
Jack's  house  stood  was  a  long  and  tolerably  steep 
slope.  There  were  houses  on  both  sides.  He  lived 


2  JACK  HALL. 

at  the  top,  near  the  corner  of  an  intersecting  street, 
which  ran  at  right  angles  to  it  down  to  Boston 
Common.  Opposite  to  his  house  was  a  grocery 
shop. 

Suddenly  Jack  looked  animated  as  he  caught 
sight  of  another  figure,  not  unlike  his  own,  on  the 
way  up  the  hill,  and  by  way  of  welcome  to  the  new 
comer,  who  was  still  far  off,  he  emitted  a  sort  of 
shrill  war-whoop,  "  Ehu  —  ehu  —  ehu  !  " 

Immediately  there  came  a  faint  reply  from  the 
distance,  "  Ehu  —  ehu  —  ehu  ! " 

After  each  had  twice  repeated  this  salutation, 
Jack  continued  contentedly  to  make  snow-balls. 
He  had  finished  two,  tucking  one  under  either  arm, 
and  was  moulding  a  third,  when  a  man  appeared  on 
the  further  sidewalk  of  the  intersecting  street. 

*'  Give  me  a  shot,  mister  ?  "  shouted  Jack. 

The  man,  who  was  going  towards  the  Common, 
looked  back  over  his  shoulder  and  grinned,  which 
Jack  recognized  as  a  sign  that  he  might  blaze  away, 
which  he  did  accordingly.  The  first  snow-ball  went 
a  little  wide  of  the  mark,  and  struck  the  wall  be 
yond  with  a  thud  ;  but  the  next  hit  the  man  plump 
in  the  middle  of  his  exposed  arm,  and  evidently 


WASHINGTON'S  BIRTHDAY.  3 

convinced  him  that  discretion  was  the  better  part 
of  valor,  for  he  gathered  his  coat  collar  about  his 
neck,  and  fled  with  precipitation  until  the  corner 
shut  him  out  from  view,  pursued  by  Jack's  remain 
ing  snow-ball  and  derisive  scoffing. 

This  put  Jack  in  high  humor.  But  before  he  had 
fully  re-supplied  himself  with  ammunition,  the  area 
door  in  the  wing  of  the  grocery  shop  opened,  and 
the  grocers  clerk,  a  young  man  of  about  eighteen, 
appeared,  carrying  some  baskets  and  bundles,  with 
which  he  proceeded  to  load  a  wheelbarrow  belong 
ing  to  the  establishment,  that  stood  beside  the  big 
window,  paying  no  attention  to  Jack,  though  he 
perceived  him  very  well.  For  there  was  perpetual 
war  between  the  boys  in  the  neighborhood  and 
"  Mustachio,"  which  was  the  name  applied  by  them 
to  the  grocer's  assistant  on  account  of  a  feebly 
sprouting  down  on  his  upper  lip. 

Jack  had  equipped  himself  amply  with  snow-balls 
by  the  time  that  the  clerk,  with  his  barrow-full  of 
eggs  and  flour  and  other  groceries  to  be  delivered 
in  the  neighborhood,  was  ready  to-  start  down 
the  street,  and  stood  leaning  against  a  tree  watch 
ing  the  enemy.  Before  Mustachio  had  proceeded 


4  JACK   HALL. 

twenty  feet,  Jack  let  drive,  not  at  him,  but  at  the 
area  door,  having  made  sure  by  a  glance  that  the 
grocer  himself  was  not  looking  out  at  the  big  win 
dow.  Now  the  area  door  contained  a  pocket  about 
a  foot  square,  cut  in  the  panel  and  concealed  by  a 
swinging  cover,  which  opened  inwards,  and  shut  as 
soon  as  pressure  was  removed.  Through  this  the 
baker  dropped  his  rolls  in  the  morning  into  a 
basket  in  the  cellar  of  the  store,  and  one  of  the 
never-tiring  amusements  of  the  boys  was  to  try  to 
do  the  same  with  snow-balls.  From  across  the 
street  this  required  some  dexterity.  As  a  conse 
quence,  the  grocer  had  cause  to  complain  bitterly, 
both  of  the  influx  of  snow  into  his  bread  basket, 
and  the  dents  in  the  woodwork  of  the  door,  which 
was  apt  to  need  a  new  coat  of  paint  as  soon  as  the 
spring  came. 

On  this  occasion  Jack's  first  shot  hit  the  wood 
work  with  a  plashing  sound,  for  the  ball  was 
slushy.  The  noise  affected  the  grocer's  clerk  as  a 
red  rag  affects  a  bull.  He  stopped  and,  setting 
down  his  barrow,  turned  towards  Jack  just  as  that 
young  miscreant's  second  ball  hit  the  target  and 
disappeared.  The  clerk  muttered  something  under 


WASHINGTON'S  BIRTHDAY.  5 

his  breath  and  made  a  dash  as  though  to  run  across 
the  street.  Jack,  divining  that  this  was  a  feint, 
retired  alertly  as  far  as  the  corner,  where  he  stood 
ready  to  beat  a  more  hasty  and  prolonged  retreat  if 
necessary.  But  the  clerk,  thinking  better  of  his 
first  impulse,  took  up  the  handles  of  his  barrow 
and  started  off  again,  trundling  smartly. 

This  was  Jack's  opportunity.  He  regained  his 
former  post  and,  aiming  with  precision,  sent  a  ball 
whizzing  within  an  inch  of  the  clerk's  head,  accom 
panying  the  shot  with  a  vituperative  cry  loud 
enough  to  arouse  the  neighborhood. 

"  Mustachio-o-o  !     Mustachio-o-o!  " 

Dignity  was  the  role  which  the  victim  assumed 
this  time,  for  he  paid  no  heed  to  either  insult.  Yet 
he  was  doomed  to  be  discomfited.  The  second  shot 
hit  his  barrow  without  doing  any  damage,  but  the 
next  struck  a  paper  bag  containing  eggs  and  broke 
two,  a  misadventure  which  would  require  the  poor 
fellow  to  make  another  trip  by-and-by.  He  turned 
and  glared  at  Jack,  realizing  his  helplessness  and 
yet  reluctant  to  be  unavenged. 

So  absorbed  was  he  in  righteous  indignation  that 
he  had  failed  to  observe  another  small  figure  creep- 


6  JACK    HALL. 

ing  up  on  the  opposite  sidewalk  in  the  shadow  of 
the  houses  and  obscured  by  the  trunks  and  branches 
of  the  row  of  trees  which  grew  along  the  street. 
Mnstachio  stooped  to  gather  some  snow  which  he 
was  compressing  with  relentless  vim  into  ice  with 
his  bare  hands  preparatory  to  hurling  it  at  Jack 
with  all  his  might,  when  of  a  sudden  a  ball  from  a 
new  quarter  and  at  short  range  struck  him  with 
stinging  force  in  the  side  of  the  head,  plastering  his 
ear  like  a  poultice.  For  an  instant  he  was  dazed 
by  the  shock  which  gave  time  —  but  only  just  time 
—  for  the  reinforcement  over  the  way  to  shoot  past 
liim  and  dive  into  the  alley  way  of  Jack's  house 
a  few  yards  above.  Mustachio  plunging  into  the 
snow  had  crossed  the  street  and  was  at  his  new 
antagonist's  heels  in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye,  but 
too  late.  The  heavy  back  door  was  slammed  in  his 
face  and  double-bolted,  and  simultaneously  from 
behind  it  and  from  the  street  corner  where  Jack 
had  again  sought  shelter  arose  another  triumphant 
cry,  "  Mustachio-oh-o-ho  !  Mustachio-o  !  " 

A  few  minutes  later,  a  peculiar  undulating  whis 
tle  given  vent  to  by  Jack  assured  the  prisoner 
that  danger  was  passed,  who,  accordingly,  reap- 


WASHINGTON'S   BIRTHDAY.  7 

peared  on  the  scene.  The  unhappy  grocer's  lad, 
having  come  to  the  conclusion  that  retribution  at 
the  moment  was  out  of  the  question,  was  visible 
down  the  street  trundling  his  wheelbarrow,  but  out 
of  range  of  the  parting  snow-balls  which  the  boys 
sent  after  him. 

"  That  was  a  beauty,  Dubsy,"  said  Jack,  by  way 
of  compliment  to  the  shot  which  had  struck  Musta- 
chio's  ear. 

At  that  moment  a  booby-hut  swung  round  the 
corner.  As  it  went  by  each  of  the  boys  sprang 
lightly  on  to  one  of  the  hind  runners  unseen  by  the 
driver.  Away  they  swept  down  hill,  passing  their 
late  enemy,  at  whom  they  grinned  exultingly,  and 
delighting  in  the  jounces  which  the  sleigh  made  at 
the  uneven  places.  It  turned  into  the  next  street, 
and  soon  they  were  spinning  over  the  smooth,  well- 
trodden  snow  of  the  milldam,  amid  a  host  of  sleighs 
and  a  gay  jingling  of  bells.  Presently  the  driver 
pulled  up  the  horses  and  they  stopped  before  a 
house  where  a  lady  got  out.  But  they  were  in 
luck  for  the  time  being ;  there  was  another  lady  to 
be  left  further  on ;  then  the  booby  turned  and  car 
ried  them  back  again,  which  was  what  they  had 


8  JACK   HALL. 

hoped  for.  They  held  on  firmly,  still  as  mice,  and 
well  sheltered  by  the  back  of  the  sleigh. 

All  of  a  sudden,  just  as  they  had  reached  the 
foot  of  their  own  street,  a  voice  abreast  of  them 
cried  loudly,  "Cut  —  cut  behind!" 

Simultaneously,  a  snow-ball  aimed  at  them 
skimmed  along  the  top  of  the  booby  and  hit  the 
driver.  But  the  driver  needed  no  additional  stimu 
lus  ;  the  cry  was  enough.  Before  the  snow-ball 
struck  him  he  had  reached  for  the  whip.  Swish ! 
swish !  went  the  lash,  curling  round  the  back  of 
the  sleigh.  But  the  boys  were  quicker  than  he;  at 
the  first  note  of  danger  they  had  let  go  their  hold. 

Instantly  they  darted  after  the  urchin  who  had 
betrayed  them,  a  ragged  shaver,  who  had  taken  to 
his  heels  the  moment  after  discharging  the  snow 
ball,  and  was  now  running  like  greased  lightning. 
Their  rubber  boots  impeded  them,  and  though  they 
panted  after  the  fugitive  through  a  number  of 
streets  they  paused  at  last,  pretty  well  winded,  and 
had  to  content  themselves  with  firing  a  few  harm 
less  shots  at  him.  He  returned  the  fire  from  the 
brow  of  the  hill  where  he  stood,  and  one  of  his 
balls,  which  were  very  swift,  hit  Jack's  Scotch  cap, 


WASHINGTON'S  BIRTHDAY.  9 

although  Jack  dodged,  and  nearly  knocked  it  off ; 
whereupon  the  enemy  set  up  a  jeer,  and  exclaimed 
before  vanishing  over  the  hill,  — 


"I'll  bring  a  crowd  down  this  afternoon  and 
knock  the  stuffing  out  of  yer !  " 

Jack  and  Dubsy,  looking  rather  sheepish,  turned 
towards  home.  Their  pride  had  received  a  down 
fall.  Moreover  they  were  heated  and  rather  tired. 


10  JACK   HALL. 

The  vicinity  of  Ma'am  Horn's  struck  them,  accord 
ingly,  as  providential,  for  it  seemed  as  though 
u  pickle-limes r'  were  the  only  things  in  creation 
which  could  relieve  their  outraged  feelings.  They 
began  by  flattening  their  noses  against  the  window- 
pane  of  the  little  shop.  A  goodly  array  of  small 
wares  delighted  their  vision,  —  peg-tops,  of  all 
sizes ;  marbles  of  every  sort,  from  the  common 
clay  variety  known  as  tho  "twoser"  and  blood  al 
leys  up  to  wonderful  mottled  agates  ;  knives,  jack- 
stones,  jew's-harps,  and  valentines.  There  were 
caramels,  pop  corn  balls,  cream  cakes,  and  cocoanut 
cakes,  and,  most  tempting  of  the  whole  in  the  way 
of  sweets,  was  a  tin  tray  of  black  looking  sticks  of 
molasses  candy,  each  about  the  length  of  a  short 
cigar,  but  rather  thicker.  On  the  counter,  under 
the  eye  of  Ma'am  Horn,  who  did  also  a  thriving 
business  in  tapes,  needles,  and  haberdashery,  stood 
a  dish  not  unlike  the  bowls  used  for  holding  gold 
fish,  half  full  of  dark  greenish  yellow  spheres : 
these  were  "  pickle-limes." 

Jack  had  seven  cents  in  his  hand,  in  copper  coin, 
as  he  entered. 

"  Give    me    two    pickle  -  limes,    please,    Ma'am 


WASHINGTON'S   BIRTHDAY.  11 

Horn,"  he  said.  Ma'am  Horn,  a  thin  and  rather 
severe  looking  lady,  fished  out  the  dainties  called 
for,  one  of  which  Jack  handed  to  Dubsy,  who  had 
been  gazing  at  them  despairingly,  having  no  money 
of  his  own,  and  who  exclaimed  with  effusion,  "  Oh, 
thank  you,  Jack."  Together  they  popped  them 
into  their  mouths,  and  as  they  munched  inter 
changed  glances  of  rapturous  congratulation. 

Jack  had  five  cents  left ;  what  should  he  buy  ? 
His  eye  lingered  fondly  on  almost  every  article  in 
the  store.  He  was  sorely  tempted  by  a  jew's-harp,  a 
compressible  snake,  and  by  some  fascinating  striped 
marbles  known  as  "  Chinees."  But  his  appetite 
was  far  from  satisfied.  Then,  too,  there  was  Dub 
sy,  and  Dubsy  was  out  of  cash  ;  though,  of  course, 
if  he  bought  marbles  Dubsy  would  not  expect  him 
to  share  them  with  him. 

"  How  much  is  a  cream  cake  ?  "  he  asked. 

"  Five  cents." 

Jack  sighed.  He  knew  well  the  price  of  those 
luscious  articles,  but  the  desire  to  have  one  made 
him  perhaps  imagine  that  it  might  have  gone 
down. 

"  Give  me  two  cocoanut  cakes." 


12  JACK  HALL. 

Cocoanut  cakes  were  a  cent  apiece.  Jack  put 
one  into  his  mouth  and  munched  it  thoughtfully ; 
then  with  a  sigh  he  held  the  second  out  to  Dubsy 
and  exclaimed  monosyllabically,  "  Here  !  " 

"  You  're  a  brick,  Jack  !  " 

Jack  licked  his  fingers.  "  I  took  the  brownest 
one,"  he  said,  apologetically. 

There  were  still  three  cents  remaining.  With 
two  of  them  Jack  bought  some  "  Chinees,"  but  the 
expenditure  of  the  last  cent  perplexed  him.  He 
finally  selected  one  of  the  sticks  of  black  molasses 
candy ;  these  when  fresh  were  so  adhesive  that  it 
was  common  to  transplant  them  directly  from  the 
tray  to  the  purchaser's  mouth,  for  if  put  in  paper 
the  paper  was  sure  to  cling  to  them.  Jack's  eyes 
closed  with  satisfaction  as  his  teeth  shut  down  on 
one  end  of  the  delicious  morsel.  When  he  looked 
again,  he  perceived  Dubsy  gazing  at  him  with  a 
manly  resolve  to  exhibit  no  envy,  and  yet  with  dis 
appointment,  or  let  us  rather  say  resignation,  writ 
ten  on  his  face. 

Jack  could  not  speak,  but  he  grunted  and  held 
out  his  mouth ;  Dubsy  understood  the  signal.  A 
moment  later  his  teeth  had  hold  of  the  other  end 


WASHINGTON'S  BIRTHDAY.  13 

of  the  stick  of  candy.  Now  began  a  struggle.  The 
two  boys,  chewing  vigorously  and  soon  convulsed 
with  laughter,  tried  to  draw  away  from  one  another, 
but  the  tough  and  ropy  compound  balked  them.  In 
a  moment  or  two,  however,  it  began  to  yield,  and 
presently  the  point  of  ambition  with  Jack  and 
Dubsy  was  to  draw  out  as  long  as  possible  the 
strand  of  stringy  molasses  which  bound  them  to 
gether.  At  last,  after  they  were  separated  from 
one  another  by  the  width  of  the  shop,  the  strand 
became  a  thread.  When  this  broke  the  fun  was 
over.  But,  needless  to  say,  the  mouths  of  the  par 
ticipants  were  a  sight  to  behold. 

The  corner  from  which  they  had  originally 
started  was  the  regular  meeting-place  for  the  boys 
who  lived  within  the  radius  of  half  a  mile  from 
Jack's  house.  Thither  they  now  returned  only  to 
learn  that  the  other  fellows  had  gone  coasting  on 
the  Common.  Accordingly,  they  went  into  Jack's 
back  yard  by  way  of  the  long  alley  already  referred 
to,  and  soon  reappeared  devouring  an  apple  apiece 
obtained  from  the  cook,  and  dragging  a  double  run 
ner  called  "  Never  Say  Die,"  made  out  of  Jack's  sin 
gle  sleds,  "Star  of  the  East,"  and  "Reindeer,"  with 


14  JACK  HALL. 

which  they  proceeded  to  the  long  coast,  so  called, 
which  ran  from  a  point  opposite  the  State  House 
diagonally  across  the  Common  to  the  West  Street 
gate.  The  coast  was  in  fine  condition  and  crowded 
with  sleds  of  every  description,  from  the  most  di 
minutive  type  to  huge  double  runners  capable  of 
holding  eight  or  ten  big  boys.  Some  of  these  last 
named,  elaborate  with  carpet  laid  over  the  main 
board  and  a  bell  which  sounded  at  intervals  to  warn 
people  to  get  out  of  the  way,  seemed  to  Jack  and 
Dubsy  the  most  desirable  things  in  the  world,  and 
made  their  own  double  runner  appear  very  insig 
nificant  by  comparison. 

However,  theirs  went  tolerably  fast,  quite  fast 
enough  to  be  safe  for  such  small  boys  as  they. 
Jack  went  down  in  front  "  belly  flounders,"  or 
"belly  bumps,"  —  the  phrase  used  to  denote  lying 
flat  on  one's  stomach  ;  little  Bill  French,  whom 
they  had  picked  up  on  the  way,  came  next  in  the 
same  posture,  grasping  Jack  firmly  by  the  legs  just 
above  the  tops  of  his  rubber  boots,  and  on  the  end 
squatted  Dnbsy,  "  butcher  "  fashion,  with  one  foot 
hanging  out  behind  for  extra  steering  purposes. 
The  coast  was  like  glass.  They  positively  flew ; 


WASHINGTON'S  BIRTHDAY.  15 

and  it  was  no  easy  work  to  guide  their  course  so  as 
to  avoid  running  down  the  small  sleds  ahead  of 
them,  to  say  nothing  of  getting  safely  over  an  ugly 
rut  half  way  from  the  top,  which  jounced  and  was 
apt  to  upset  the  unskillful.  At  the  bottom  of  the 
hill,  where  a  crowd  of  spectators  was  collected, 
another  jounce  was  caused  by  a  plank  walk  which 
crossed  the  coast.  This  passed  without  mishap, 
the  sleds  sped  along  the  smooth  mall  so  long  as 
their  velocity  could  hold  out.  Thanks  to  Jack's 
cleverness  in  handling,  the  "  Never  Say  Die  "  made 
an  excellent  showing  the  first  time  down,  being 
landed  by  dint  of  strenuous  coaxing  and  nursing 
three  inches  ahead  of  a  considerably  larger  com 
petitor,  to  the  great  satisfaction  of  our  trio.  Then 
came  the  climb  up  hill  with  the  prospect  of  another 
glorious  descent  to  deter  them  from  lagging. 

It  was  great  sport,  and  a  boon  to  the  hundreds 
of  boys  of  every  size  and  class  who  could  thus 
spend  their  holiday  out  of  harm's  way  in  healthful 
exercise. 

Jack  and  his  friends  went  down  half  a  dozen 
times  without  a  mishap,  and  even  beat  their  first 
record,  running  to  a  point  on  the  path  which  none 


16  JACK  HALL. 

but  the  very  largest  double-runners  had  succeeded 
in  reaching.  But  on  the  seventh  trip  they  came  to 
grief,  though  the  fault  was  scarcely  theirs.  Jack 
was  in  front  as  usual,  and  with  both  his  hands 
clasped  over  one  of  the  iron-shod  points  of  "  Rein 
deer,"  was  urging  the  "  Never  Say  Die  "  on  for  all 
she  was  worth  in  point  of  ^  speed,  when,  of  a  sudden, 
a  lady  started  to  cross  the  coast  about  half  way 
down.  You  boys  who  know  the  Common  do  not 
need  to  be  told  that  there  is  a  more  or  less  traveled 
path  which  intersects  the  long  coast  at  this  point. 

The  lady  had  been  waiting  on  the  edge  of  the 
coast  for  several  minutes  for  a  chance  to  cross. 
She  was  very  nervous  and  at  the  same  time  in  a 
hurry  to  catch  a  horse-car.  There  were  a  number 
of  other  people  standing  in  line  as  spectators  and 
what  with  so  many  sleds  on  the  way  down,  and  the 
stream  of  boys  coming  up  hill  dragging  sleds  behind 
them,  she  doubtless  got  confused,  lost  her  head, 
and  started  just  at  the  wrong  time.  It  was  too  late 
to  help  her  before  the  bystanders  realized  her 
danger.  Jack  was  seized  with  horror  as  she 
loomed  up  on  the  track  just  ahead  of  him.  The 
"  Never  Say  Die  "  was  going  like  a  locomotive. 


WASHINGTON'S   BIRTHDAY.  17 

"Clear  the  lulla !  Clear  the  lulla-a-a!"  Jack 
shouted,  as  loud  as  he  was  able. 

He  made  one  frantic  effort  to  wrench  "  Rein 
deer  "  aside,  but  to  no  purpose.  The  lady  turned 
her  head  at  his  cry,  and  just  then  the  points  of  the 
foremost  sled  struck  her  amidships,  as  sailors  would 
say,  and  she  fell  with  a  despairing  shriek  on  to 
Jack's  head  and  shoulders,  her  legs  flying  from 
under  her.  Her  clothing  blinded  Jack's  eyes  so 
that  he  could  perceive  nothing  ahead.  At  the 
same  moment,  the  hinder  part  of  the  "  Never  Say 
Die,"  as  a  consequence  of  the  check  in  front,  slued 
violently  and  swung  nearly  at  right  angles  across 
the  coast,  a  certain  target  for  those  coming  after. 
Bump  !  Crash !  Another  double  runner  and  a  sin 
gle  sled  struck  them  simultaneously,  and  the  wreck 
of  all  three,  mingled  together  and  twisted  awry  by 
the  ugly  rut  which  by  this  time  they  had  fallen 
into,  flew  asunder.  Somehow  or  other  Jack  got 
free  from  the  lady  in  time  to  dodge  his  head  just 
as  "  Reindeer,"  torn  apart  from  her  mate,  smashed 
into  a  tree  and  upset.  The  unhappy  cause  of  the 
catastrophe  was  tossed  a  few  feet  behind  him  into 
the  gutter.  "  Star  of  the  East  "  darted  off  to  the 


18  JACK  HALL. 

other  side  of  the  coast,  but,  handicapped  by  the 
remains  of  the  board  which  ordinarily  united  her 
with  "Reindeer,"  capsized  immediately  and  rolled 
over  and  over  with  poor  Dubsy.  Little  Bill  French, 
being  light  and  small,  was  lifted  like  a  shuttlecock 
off  the  "  Never  Say  Die  "  by  the  prow  of  the  "  Ice 
land  Queen,"  but  only  to  be  thrown  a  moment 
later  into  the  middle  of  the  coast  by  the  violent 
slueing  of  that  semblance  of  royalty,  from  which 
dangerous  predicament  he  managed  to  crawl  away 
unharmed.  "  Iceland  Queen  "  wobbled  about  for 
a  few  minutes  longer,  but  upset  at  last  into  the 
gutter ;  while  the  boy  with  the  single  sled,  violently 
thrown  out  of  his  path,  shot  between  the  trees  over 
the  crust  of  the  adjacent  field,  where  he  succeeded 
in  coming  to  a  halt  without  further  mishap.  Al 
together  it  was  a  dire  experience. 

Fortunately  the  lady  was  merely  shaken  up  a 
little  though  a  good  deal  frightened.  The  injuries 
to  the  three  boys  were  also  slight,  consisting  of 
a  scratch  on  Dubsy 's  cheek,  a  lame  shoulder  re 
ceived  by  Jack  from  contact  with  the  tree,  and  a 
general  wetting  and  begriming  of  them  all.  Jack's 
chief  concern,  after  being  satisfied  that  neither  the 


WASHINGTON'S   BIRTHDAY.  19 

lady  nor  either  of  his  companions  was  dead,  was 
for  the  "  Never  Say  Die,"  which,  to  tell  the  truth, 
was  pretty  far  gone  ;  for  not  only  was  her  main 
board  splintered,  but  one  of  the  runners  of  "Star 
of  the  East "  was  nearly  twisted  off.  Nothing  was 
left,  therefore,  but  to  convey  what  was  left  home, 
which  was  done  by  the  boys  ruefully,  inasmuch 
as  such  an  occupation  on  Washington's  Birthday 
seemed  the  essence  of  misuse  of  time. 

Jack,  in  common  with  the  other  boys  of  the 
city,  was  rejoicing  in  the  consciousness  that  there 
would  be  no  school  until  Monday,  this  being  only 
Friday  morning.  Washington's  Birthday  was  to  be 
followed  by  some  civic  celebration  on  the  morrow, 
thus  affording  them  two  days  of  vacation  in  suc 
cession,  with  Sunday  to  boot.  But  though  there 
was  so  much  time  at  his  disposal,  every  minute  of 
it  was  precious  to  Jack.  Accordingly,  as  soon  as 
the  "  Never  Say  Die "  was  reestablished  in  the 
back  yard  preliminary  to  sending  her  to  a  carpen 
ter  for  repairs,  the  question  arose,  what  to  do  dur 
ing  the  hour  and  a  half  left  before  dinner. 

To  begin  with,  the  three  boys  sauntered  into  the 
grocery  on  the  corner  and  were  weighed,  a  process 


20  JACK  HALL. 

which  they  were  apt  to  inflict  upon  its  long-suffer 
ing  proprietor  whenever  there  was  nothing  else  in 
particular  to  do.  For  after  getting  off  the  scales  it 
was  rather  pleasant  to  wander  about  the  store  peer 
ing  into  the  barrels,  stroking  the  cat,  and  perhaps, 
when  there  was  a  chance,  "  hooking  "  a  dried  ap 
ple  or  a  handful  of  beans.  On  this  occasion,  Bill 
French  stood  treat  to  figs,  which  he  charged  to  his 
father  with  an  audacity  that  seemed  admirable  to 
Jack.  Bill,  though  the  smallest  of  the  three,  was 
their  equal  in  age,  and  more  than  their  equal  in  sly 
ways ;  for  whereas  Jack  was  full  of  animal  spirits 
and  very  mischievous,  and  Dubsy  (as  the  boys 
called  him,  for  no  reason  that  was  ever  discovered, 
his  real  name  being  Samuel)  Perkins  was  not  a 
model  of  obedience,  they  were  both  straightforward 
boys.  But  they  looked  up  to  Bill  as  knowing  a 
thing  or  two,  and  accordingly  listened  with  avidity 
when,  after  they  had  pretty  well  exhausted  the 
resources  of  the  shop,  he  suddenly  exclaimed  in 
a  confidential  whisper,  "  I  know  what  let 's  do,  fel 
lows." 

"  What  ?  "  they  asked  together. 

Without  disclosing  his  purpose,  Bill  led  the  way 


WASHINGTON'S   BIRTHDAY.  21 

out  of  the  store,  up  the  intersecting  street,  into  one 
parallel  with  that  on  which  Jack  lived,  and  up  the 
back  stairs  of  his  house  into  the  garret,  stopping  on 
the  way  at  his  own  room  for  a  minute,  from  which 
he  reappeared  with  some  pieces  of  stick  and  a  box 
of  matches  which  he  exhibited  with  a  wink  to  his 
companions. 

"  What  are  they  for  ?  "  Jack  asked. 

"  I  know,"  said  Dubsy,  after  an  instant. 

"Mum's  the  word,"  answered  Bill,  putting  his 
finger  on  his  lips.  Thereupon  he  mounted  a  short 
ladder  leading  to  the  skylight,  pushed  open  the  sky 
light,  through  which  he  crawled  on  to  the  flat,  grav 
eled  roof,  followed  immediately  by  the  others. 
This  was  a  lark  in  itself.  To  be  able  to  look  over 
the  tops  of  the  houses  and  to  discern  the  harbor 
and  the  forts  and  the  shipping,  or  to  see  the  horses 
and  people  in  the  streets  below  looking  pigmy-like, 
was  a  genuine  treat. 

"  Swanny ! "  cried  Jack,  with  a  burst  of  enthusi 
asm  ;  "  I  can  see  Nahant !  " 

"And  there's  Bunker  Hill,"  said  Dubsy,  who 
was  looking  in  another  direction.  "  The  flags  are 
flying  everywhere.  That 's  because  it 's  Washing 
ton's  Birthday." 


22  JACK  HALL. 

Their  attention  was  suddenly  diverted  by  seeing 
Bill  light  a  match  under  cover  of  the  chimney  wall 
and  apply  it  to  one  of  the  pieces  of  stick  which  pro 
truded  from  his  mouth  ;  then  he  drew  in  his  breath, 
puffed,  and  blew  out  a  little  smoke. 

"  She 's  going,"  he  said,  gleefully.  "  Have  a 
weed  ?  "  He  pointed  to  the  other  sticks  which  lay 
near  by. 

Jack  looked  a  little  awestruck.  "  What  is  it  ?  " 
he  asked,  "  sweet-fern  ?  "  He  had,  sometimes,  while 
skating  on  the  ponds,  seen  older  boys  when  it  was 
dusk  flying  about  with  lighted  cigarettes  in  their 
mouths,  which  he  had  been  told  were  made  of 
sweet-fern. 

"  No,"  said  Bill.     "  Rattan,  greeny." 

Jack  hated  of  all  things  to  be  considered  green. 
"  Oh,"  he  said,  doubtfully. 

Dubsy  had  already  taken  one  of  the  sticks  and 
was  lighting  it. 

"It's  bully,"  said  Bill.  "Charley  Buck  has 
smoked  real  cigarettes  and  says  they  're  no  better. 
Don't  be  stumped  by  Dubsy,  Jack !  How  is  it, 
Dubsy?" 

"  First  rate,"  said  Dubsy.  "  But  mine  does  n't 
draw  very  well,  Bill." 


WASHINGTON'S  BIRTHDAY.  23 

"  I  '11  fix  it  all  right,"  answered  the  master  of 
ceremonies.  Whereupon  he  took  his  knife  and 
worked  it  a  few  times  in  the  unlighted  end  of 
Dubsy 's  cigarette.  "  There  !  try  that." 

The  operation  acted  like  a  charm  ;  Dubsy  was 
enabled  to  emit  a  cloud  of  smoke  which  filled 
Jack's  doubting  soul  with  envy.  To  be  stumped 
by  Dubsy  was  more  than  he  could  bear,  though  he 
felt  very  sure  that  his  mother  would  disapprove  of 
his  smoking. 

"  It  's  better  'n  hay-seed,"  said  Dubsy,  who  had 
seated  himself  on  a  ridge  of  the  roof  beside  Bill, 
and  was  swinging  his  foot  jubilantly. 

"  I  never  smoked  hay-seed,"  replied  poor  Jack. 
"Which  end  do  you  light?  "he  asked  defiantly, 
taking  up  one  of  the  pieces  of  rattan. 

"  It  makes  no  difference,"  said  Bill.  "  Bully  for 
you,  Jack." 

A  moment  later  they  were  all  three  seated  side 
by  side,  puffing  like  little  Turks. 

"Yesterday  was  my  birthday,"  continued  Bill. 
"  See  what  father  gave  me."  He  drew  out  of  his 
pocket  an  open-faced  silver  watch,  which  he  exhib 
ited  with  pride. 


24  JACK   HALL. 

"  My  eye  !  "  exclaimed  Jack.  "  Does  it  really 
go?" 

"  Go  ?  I  guess  she  does.  You  ought  to  hear 
her  tick  at  night.  Father  says  I  shall  have  a 
hunter  when  I  'm  fifteen,  and  a  gold  repeater  when 
I  'm  twenty-one." 

The  other  boys  were  silent  with  envy. 

"  My  father 's  got  lots  of  money,"  went  on  Bill. 
*'  He  could  buy  both  your  fathers  out,  I  guess,  and 
have  a  pile  left." 

"  My  father  's  dead,  you  know,"  answered  Jack. 

u  So  he  is  ;  I  was  n't  thinking.  Well,  then,  he 
could  buy  your  mother  out." 

"Let 's  see  the  works,"  said  Dubsy. 

Bill  opened  the  inside  cover  with  his  thumb  nail 
in  response  to  this  request,  and  the  three  heads  were 
immediately  in  close  proximity  studying  the  inter 
nal  arrangements  of  the  watch. 

"  That 's  a  jewel,"  said  Bill,  indicating  a  colored 
spot  among  the  cogs  and  wheels. 

The  heads  went  lower  in  mute  admiration. 

"  It  is  n't  a  very  big  one,  anyway,"  said  Jack, 
glad  of  what  seemed  an  opportunity  for  criticism. 

"  There  are  fourteen,  mostly  rubies,"  replied  Bill. 


WASHINGTON'S   BIRTHDAY.  25 

"  Don't  breathe  so  hard,  Dubsy.  Father  says  it 
hurts  the  works  to  breathe  on  them." 

"  Wind  her  up,"  cried  Jack. 

Bill  fumbled  in  his  pocket  and  produced  a  key. 
"She's  mostly  wound,"  he  said.  "I  wound  her 
last  night  and  again  just  after  breakfast."  One  or 
two  turns  was  all  the  watch  would  stand  at  the  mo 
ment  without  danger  to  the  mainspring ;  so  this 
exhibition  was  unsatisfactory. 

"  My  father  has  a  stem-winder,"  said  Dubsy,  after 
a  moment ;  "  I  've  heard  him  say  that  a  watch  with 
a  key  was  more  bother  than  it  was  worth." 

"  I  should  n't  care  for  one  that  was  n't  a  stem- 
winder,"  said  Jack,  stoutly. 

"  Sour  grapes,"  said  Bill,  with  a  sneer. 

"  You  feel  awful  big,  don't  you,  because  you  Ve 
got  a  watch,"  retorted  Jack. 

"  Oh,  come  off,"  said  Bill,  contemptuously.  This 
was  a  phrase  unfamiliar  to  the  others,  which  Bill 
had  picked  up  in  the  streets.  The  interest  awak 
ened  by  its  use  induced  a  pause,  during  which  Jack 
cooled  down.  He  did  not  wish  a  row,  and  was  con 
scious  of  having  been  unwarrantably  aggressive. 
But,  as  he  would  have  said,  he  was  sick  of  hearing 
Bill  blow. 


26 


JACK   HALL. 


Bill,  having  by  this  time  exhausted  the  delights 
of  his  cigarette,  had  taken  his  knife  and  split  the 
rattan  open  down  the  middle.  "  That 's  dried 


blood,"  he  said,  holding  out  the  pieces  for  inspec 
tion. 

The  boys  looked,  and  there,  sure  enough,  running 
down  through  the  pith  was  a  fine  red  thread,  which 
resembled  very  much  what  Bill  said  it  was. 


WASHINGTON'S   BIRTHDAY.  27 

"  Every  time  one  smokes,  blood  is  sucked  out 
of  the  lungs  and  collects  like  that,"  he  said. 

"  How  do  you  know  it 's  blood  ?  "  asked  Jack  in 
rather  an  awestruck  voice. 

"  Charley  Buck  says  so."  This  was  strong  evi 
dence.  Charley  Buck  was  nearly  fifteen. 

"  I  was  awfully  sick  the  first  time  I  smoked," 
went  on  Bill,  but  his  words  were  not  regarded  by 
Jack,  who  was  deep  in  the  process  of  dividing  his 
own  piece  of  rattan.  There  the  red  thread  was, 
just  as  in  Bill's  piece.  His  lungs  seemed  all  right, 
bat  his  head  was  a  little  dizzy ;  he  coughed  once  or 
twice  and  patted  his  chest  without  uncomfortable 
results ;  however,  he  felt  grave.  What  would  his 
mother  say  if  she  knew  the  truth !  He  put  the 
pieces  of  rattan  carefully  in  his  pocket,  and  recol 
lected  that  it  was  dinner  time. 

Just  then  Bill  exclaimed  in  a  tone  in  which  pity 
and  satisfaction  were  blended  in  about  equal  pro 
portions,  "  I  guess  you  're  sick,  Dubsy." 

Dubsy  was  ;  the  poor  fellow  looked  very  white 
and  doleful,  and  was  sitting  still.  "  I  feel  faint, 
that 's  all,"  he  answered. 

But  it  was  n't  all ;  moreover,  it  was  a  good  quar- 


28  JACK  HALL. 

ter  of  an  hour  before  Dubsy  was  able  to  lift  his 
head  from  the  roof  and  be  helped  down  the  ladder. 
Meanwhile,  Jack  and  Bill  sat  on  either  side  of  him 
and  tried  to  cheer  him  up.  Bill,  who  was  able  to 
speak  from  experience,  assured  them  that  the  sick 
ness  would  soon  subside,  and  that  he  had  been  much 
more  miserable  after  his  first  smoke.  But  to  tell 
the  truth,  Jack  and  Bill  also,  despite  his  former  ex 
periences,  felt  rather  squeamish  themselves  and  not 
much  inclined  to  talk.  Besides,  the  remembrance 
of  what  he  supposed  to  be  his  dried  blood  haunted 
Jack's  mind.  Altogether,  it  was,  on  the  whole,  a 
bad  quarter  of  an  hour,  as  the  French  say. 


CHAPTER   II. 

THE   SNOW-BALL   FIGHT. 

As  soon  as  Dubsy  Perkins  felt  all  right  again, 
Jack  and  he  left  Bill  French's  and  went  home  to 
their  dinners.  Jack  lived  alone  with  his  mother ; 
he  was  her  only  child.  Her  husband  had  been 
killed  in  the  Civil  War  ten  years  before,  and  Jack 
was  all  she  had  in  the  world  to  care  for  and  be 
proud  of  except  the  memory  of  Jack's  father's  gal 
lant  services  as  a  soldier,  which  she  was  never  tired 
of  talking  about  to  Jack.  His  name  had  been 
John  Hall,  just  as  Jack's  was,  and  he  had  fallen  at 
the  head  of  the  regiment  of  which  he  was  Colonel, 
in  one  of  the  last  battles  of  the  war,  when  Jack 
was  a  mere  baby. 

Back  of  Colonel  John  Hall  was  a  long  line  of 
Halls,  running  very  nearly  into  Mayflower  times,  a 
good  many  of  them  John  Halls  or,  as  those  who 
knew  them  best  called  them,  Jack  Halls,  though 
John  is  a  good  name  for  any  boy  or  man  to  be  con- 


30  JACK   HALL. 

tent  with  and  not  to  wish  to  change.     They  were  a 
hardy,  thorough-going  set,  these  Halls,  Massachu 
setts  folk  who  in  Colonial  times,  when  the  days 
were  gone  by  for  shooting  Indians,  tilled  their  farms 
and  made  sure  that  their  liberties  were  not  inter 
fered  with   by  King   James   or   King  William  or 
King  George.     When  this  was  impossible  without 
taking  arms,  they  were  equal  to  the  occasion.     Is 
rael  Hall,  Jack's  great-great-grandfather,  was  one 
of  the  raw  recruits  composing  the  Continental  Army 
over  which  General  Washington  assumed  command 
under  the  famous  old  elm  at  Cambridge.     He  fol 
lowed  his  commander  through  thick  and  thin,  be 
came  a  sergeant,  then  a  captain,  was  wounded,  but 
got  well  in  time  to  be  one  of  those  who  made  the 
memorable  passage  of  the  Delaware  when  our  army, 
reduced  to  a  forlorn  band  of   four  thousand,  fell 
upon  the   Hessians   at  Trenton,  routed   them,  and 
plucked  up  spirit  and   hope  once   more.     He  was 
shot  dead,  however,  at  the  battle  of  Brandy  wine, 
and,  as  will  be  the  case  with  many  brave  fellows 
so  long  as  wars  last,  left  a  wife  and  some  wee  bits 
of  children  to  get  along  as  best  they  could. 

It  would  take  too  long  to  give  an  account  of  the 


THE   SNOW-BALL  FIGHT.  31 

lives  of  Jack's  ancestors  in  detail,  but  you  may  be 
interested  to  learn  something  of  the  career  of  Israel 
Hall's  eldest  son,  —  also  named  John,  —  who,  hav 
ing  to  make  his  own  way  in  the  world,  left  the 
family  farm  and  came  to  Salem  town  in  search  of 
something  to  do.  Now,  at  that  time  Salem  was  a 
famous  commercial  port,  little  as  one  would  im 
agine  it  torday.  Forty  years  later  its  prestige  was 
usurped  and  overshadowed  by  its  near  neighbor, 
Boston,  but  from  1770  until  1820  the  maritime  su 
premacy  of  Salem  was  unquestioned.  Prior  to  the 
Revolution,  the  inhabitants  of  the  town  had  been 
noted  for  their  commercial  energy,  and  when  war 
was  declared  they  fitted  out  their  trading  vessels 
with  guns,  and  built  others  to  the  number  of  over 
one  hundred,  which  made  great  havoc  among  the 
enemy's  commerce  in  the  English  Channel  and  the 
Bay  of  Biscay,  so  that  the  rates  of  insurance  went 
up  amazingly  among  the  British  underwriters. 
The  patriotism  and  enterprise  of  the  old  Salem 
merchants  is  a  glowing  chapter  in  the  history  of 
our  country. 

But  as  soon  as  there  was  no  more  fighting  to  be 
done,  the  merchants  turned  their  fleet  of  privateers 


32  JACK   HALL. 

into  trading-vessels  again,  and  as  the  vessels  were 
too  large  for  mere  coasters,  sent  them  out  laden 
with  Spanish  dollars  to  every  nook  and  corner  of 
the  Oriental  world, — to  Calcutta  and  Madagascar, 
and  Batavia  and  Java,  and  the  Celibes,  and  all  the 
chain  of  islands  in  the  Indian  Archipelago  which 
you  have  read  about  in  your  geographies.  There 
the  silver  freight  was  exchanged  for  pepper,  spices, 
gums,  coffee,  or  other  Eastern  products,  with  which 
the  captains  would  either  return  or  would  bear 
away  to  some  European  port,  like  Marseilles,  where 
part  of  the  cargo  was  sold  at  a  profit,  and  its  place 
supplied  by  wines  and  silk  to  be  brought  home. 
It  was  an  adventurous,  exciting  life  for  those  who 
sailed ;  and  meanwhile  the  owners  sat  in  their 
counting-houses  casting  up  figures  and  waiting  for 
their  vessels  to  arrive.  It  was  often  two  and  even 
three  years  that  they  had  to  wait,  but  the  ships 
came  back  at  last,  freighted  with  merchandise, 
which  their  owners  sold  to  their  fellow  townspeo 
ple  at  a  snug  profit.  Or,  if  by  chance  the  ships 
were  lost  and  never  returned,  the  underwriters  re 
imbursed  the  merchants  so  that  they  were  able  to 
buy  new  ones. 


THE   SNOW-BALL  FIGHT.  33 

It  was  into  the  counting-bouse  of  one  of  these 
merchants  that  Jack's  great-grandfather,  John 
Hall,  chanced  to  stray  one  morning  in  search  of 
employment.  Probably  the  head  of  the  firm  liked 
the  looks  of  the  boy  and  divined  that  he  would 
make  a  sterling  sailor ;  at  all  events  he  took  him 
into  his  service  and  sent  him  on  a  long  voyage  in 
one  of  his  ships,  which  turned  out  very  success 
fully  for  the  merchant,  and  for  John  Hall  too,  in 
asmuch  as  everybody  had  a  pleasant  word  to  say 
in  his  behalf.  From  this  time  forward  his  life  was 
one  of  marvelous  experiences  for  many  years  to 
come.  One  thing  leads  to  another  when  a  young 
man  is  efficient.  Before  he  was  nineteen  John 
Hall  was  a  mate,  and  on  his  twenty-first  birthday 
he  found  himself  in  command  of  a  three  hundred 
ton  ship,  which  was  a  large  one  for  those  days.  If 
it  were  his  career  I  was  narrating,  it  would  be  easy 
to  keep  you  awake  many  hours  with  thrilling  tales 
of  what  happened  to  him.  He  fought  with  pirates, 
and  had  hair-breadth  adventures  with  savage  tribes, 
was  twice  shipwrecked,  and  barely  escaped  being 
eaten  by  cannibals,  only  to  be  imprisoned  in  a 
South  American  dungeon  instead.  But  in  the  end 


34  JACK   HALL. 

he  passed  safely  through  his  perils,  and  settled 
down  in  Salem  for  the  rest  of  his  days  with  sev 
enty-five  thousand  dollars  in  hard  cash,  which  was 
quite  as  much  as  a  million  is  now. 

Very  possibly  some  of  you  may  be  thinking  that 
you  would  like  to  have  lived  when  a  career  similar 
to  that  of  Jack's  great-grandfather  was  a  natural 
one  for  an  ambitious  boy  to  follow.  But  though 
the  glamour  of  such  adventures  as  his  does  make 
the  blood  even  of  those  of  us  who  are  grown  up 
tingle  as  we  read,  it  will  not  do  to  shut  our  eyes  to 
the  truth.  We  see  only  the  glory  and  forget  the 
hardships.  We  forget,  too,  —  and  their  many  vir 
tues  make  us  forget,  —  that  resolute,  noble  fellows 
as  were  the  men  whose  enterprise  and  pluck  built 
up  fortunes  for  themselves  while  supplying  their 
country,  starved  and  draggled  by  the  Revolution, 
with  the  necessities  and  even  the  luxuries  of  life, 
these  old  merchant  captains  and  their  crews  were 
rough,  ignorant  people  compared  with  what  some 
of  your  fathers  are  to-day.  They  had  but  little 
knowledge  except  of  a  practical  kind  acquired  by 
bitter  experience  ;  their  one  absorbing  interest  was 
the  accumulation  of  money,  and,  let  us  say  it  under 


THE   SNOW-BALL  FIGHT.  35 

our  breaths,  the  standards  of  morality  by  which 
they  did  business  were  not  the  highest.  How 
could  it  be  otherwise  ?  The  population  of  the  strip 
of  seaboard  States  which  then  composed  our  coun 
try  had  to  begin  existence  as  a  nation  bankrupt, 
and  chiefly  dependent  for  its  wants  on  the  products 
of  other  lands.  Our  great-grandfathers  were  down 
to  hard  pan,  as  the  saying  is,  and  life  meant  for 
them  a  struggle  for  the  means  of  existence  unre 
lieved  by  any  but  the  most  homely  pleasures  and 
tastes.  There  were  no  mills  and  factories  then  to 
compete  with  the  manufactories  of  Europe,  no 
great  west  with  its  fields  of  waving  grain  and  de 
veloped  mines  of  gold  and  coal  and  iron,  no  cotton 
gin,  no  splendid  libraries  and  broad  institutions  of 
learning,  no  railroads,  no  telegraph.  All  these 
were  yet  to  come,  and  it  is  to  such  men  as  John 
Hall  that  we  are  indebted  for  having  laid  the  foun 
dations  of  that  prosperity  which  affords  to  their  de 
scendants  opportunities  for  usefulness  and  culture 
such  as  our  forefathers  never  dreamed  of.  Let  us 
admire  their  courage,  grit,  and  perseverance ;  let  us 
applaud  their  successes  and  recognize  the  sterling 
virtues  by  which  they  won  them,  but  their  lot 


36  JACK   HALL. 

should  no  more  arouse  our  envy  than  should  that 
of  those  later  pioneers  in  the  struggle  of  reclaiming 
our  west  from  the  forest  and  the  savage,  inspired 
by  whose  adventures  as  scouts  and  trappers  so 
many  boys  have  run  away  from  home  and  been 
very  sorry  afterwards. 

We  left  Jack  going  home  to  his  dinner,  for  which 
he  did  not  feel  very  hungry  at  first.  But  a  fine 
piece  of  beefsteak  with  potatoes  and  macaroni,  fol 
lowed  by  cold  rice  pudding  with  bits  of  cinnamon 
in  it,  of  which  Jack  was  especially  fond,  brought 
his  appetite  back  again,  so  that  when  he  had  .fin 
ished  his  second  plate  of  pudding,  cleaning  the 
plate  with  his  spoon  until  it  shone,  the  thought 
occurred  to  him  that  he  would  have  a  third  help  ; 
but  the  well-known  "  Ehu  —  ehu  —  ehu  "  resound 
ing  from  the  street  told  him  that  the  fellows  were 
beginning  to  collect  again,  and  he  started  up. 

Jack  dined  in  the  middle  of  the  day,  and  his 
mother  had  her  dinner  at  night;  but  Mrs.  Hall 
made  a  point  of  taking  her  lunch  at  the  same  hour 
as  Jack  dined,  and  after  he  had  finished  eating  she 
always  tried  to  beguile  him  into  sitting  still  for  a 
while,  for  he  had  a  tendency,  when  anything  inter- 


THE   SNOW-BALL  FIGHT.  37 

esting  was  in  prospect  outdoors,  to  scurry  through 
his  meals  and  leave  the  table  with  his  mouth  full 
the  instant  the  last  course  had  been  served.  Some 
times  he  would  bolt  from  his  chair  as  soon  as  he 
had  finished  his  meat,  crying,  —  merely  by  way  of 
explanation  for  his  hasty  departure,  —  as  he  seized 
his  cap  and  just  prior  to  slamming  the  front  door, 
"  Don't  want  any  pudding."  On  such  occasions 
his  mother  did  not  always  have  the  heart  to  detain 
him. 

But  this  day  he  dined  alone  and  there  was  no 
one  to  put  a  check  on  his  movements,  for  Mrs. 
Hall  had  been  called  away  out  of  town  to  see  an 
old  friend  who  was  sick,  and  would  not  be  back 
until  after  Jack's  bed  hour.  Deeply  as  he  loved 
his  mother  and  fond  as  he  was  of  having  her  with 
him,  Jack  felt  a  certain  pride  in  being  his  own 
master  for  once.  As  an  indemnity  for  being  left 
alone  for  the  day,  he  had  obtained  permission  to 
order  whatever  he  liked  for  tea,  and  to  have  whom 
ever  he  chose  among  the  boys  to  share  it  with  him. 
He  had  already  exercised  the  second  privilege  by 
inviting  Dubsy  Perkins,  Bill  French,  and  Harry 
Dale,  another  of  his  friends,  and  it  was  now  neces- 


38  JACK  HALL. 

sary  to  decide  upon  the  viands  before  he  went  out 
again.  This  was  no  easy  task,  as  he  had  a  number 
of  dainties  in  mind  which  ranked  very  evenly  in 
his  estimation.  He  felt  pretty  certain  as  to  one, 
however.  "  We  '11  have  cream  cakes,  Hannah,"  he 
said  with  decision  to  the  maid. 

"  Very  well,  Master  Jack,  I  '11  get  six ;  that  '11  be 
one  and  a  half  apiece." 

"  How  much  are  Eclairs  ?  "  he  asked,  presently. 

"  I  don't  know,  Master  Jack.  Your  mamma, 
when  she  has  company,  buys  those  at  the  confec 
tioner's." 

"  They  're  bully,"  he  said.  "  I  like  the  chocolate 
ones  best.  I  guess,  though,  the  fellows  would 
rather  have  cream  cakes." 

"  Cook  has  a  Washington  pie  ready." 

"That's  hunky  !  Mother  said  that  we  could 
have  quince  jam  and  raspberry  jam,  and  —  and  —  I 
know  what  we  '11  have,"  he  cried  with  a  wave  of  his 
arm,  —  "  waffles." 

"I  don't  know  as  the  cook  has  a  waffle-iron, 
Master  Jack,"  answered  Hannah,  despondently. 

Jack  looked  downcast  a  moment.  "  We  had  them 
at  Bill  French's ,  you  eat  them  with  butter  and 
nutmeg,"  he  said,  with  a  sigh. 


THE  SNOW-BALL  FIGHT.  39 

"  Cook  makes  those  puff  cakes  very  nicely,"  said 
Hannah,  who  had  been  thinking. 

Jack  clapped  his  hands.  "  They  '11  do  first-rate," 
he  said.  "I  guess  that'll  be  enough,  •with  the 
spread  bread  and  butter  and  some  muffins ;  don't 
you,  Hannah  ?  " 

"  Goodness  sakes  !  yes,  Master  Jack.  If  you  're 
not  all  sick  to-morrow,  I  shall  be  very  much  mis 
taken." 

At  the  mention  of  sickness  Jack  was  pensive  a 
moment.  Then  he  felt  in  his  pocket  and  produced 
one  of  the  pieces  of  rattan.  "  See  there,  Hannah, 
that 's  my  blood,"  he  exclaimed. 

"  Your  blood !  Mercy  on  us,  what  does  the  child 
mean?"  she  added,  as  she  examined  the  charred 
stick. 

"It's  dried  blood  out  of  my  lungs." 

Hannah  put  the  rattan  up  to  her  nose,  then  gave 
a  start.  "  You  don't  mean  to  tell  me,  Master  Jack, 
that  you  've  been  smoking  ?  " 

"  What  if  I  have  ?  " 

"  What  will  your  mamma  say  ?  " 

"I  guess  she  won't  mind." 

Jack  knew  that  this  last  statement  was  not  true, 


40  JACK  HALL. 

but  as  he  intended  to  make  a  clean  breast  of  it  to 
his  mother,  he  felt  justified  in  assuming  a  bold  front 
before  Hannah. 

Hannah  shook  her  head  prophetically.  "  It 's  that 
Bill  French,  I  '11  be  bound  ;  he  's  always  getting  you 
into  some  sort  of  mischief.  Had  n't  you  anything 
better  to  do  than  go  smoking  that  nasty  stick  ?  " 

"  I  only  smoked  a  little  piece,"  Jack  answered. 
"  Besides,  it  is  n't  a  stick,  it 's  rattan." 

"  I  'd  just  like  to  get  my  hand  on  that  Bill  French, 
that 's  all,"  said  Hannah.  "  Blood  out  of  your 
lungs,  too !  We  '11  have  you  sick  abed  next,  and 
your  mamma  crying  her  eyes  out." 

Jack,  as  he  went  out  of  the  house,  was  conscious 
that  he  had  not  derived  much  consolation  from.  Han 
nah,  whose  view  seemed  to  confirm  the  fearful  tes 
timony  already  in  his  possession.  But  on  closing 
the  front  door  his  attention  was  at  once  absorbed  by 
what  was  going  on  outside.  Some  half-dozen  boys, 
including  Dubsy  Perkins,  Bill  French,  and  Harry 
Dale,  were  engaged  in  building  a  huge  dam.  It 
had  grown  milder  since  morning  and  was  melting 
fast.  Underneath  the  piles  of  snow  on  either  side 
of  the  street,  the  water  was  beginning  to  flow  rap- 


THE   SNOW-BALL   FIGHT.  41 

idly  along  the  gutters  down  hill.  The  boys  had 
selected  a  spot  a  hundred  yards  or  so  below  Jack's 
house,  across  the  way,  and  had  formed  a  basin  by 
digging  up  the  snow  until  they  came  to  the  paving. 
The  curbstone  constituted  one  bank,  and  the  other, 
or  rather  the  whole  remaining  bulwark  of  the  dam, 
was  made  of  snow  piled  up  and  mashed  with  shov 
els  until  it  became  firm.  While  constructing  this 
they  had  made  a  temporary  dam  a  few  feet  further 
up,  to  catch  the  water ;  but  just  as  Jack  joined 
them  Dubsy  cut  a  big  hole  in  it,  and  the  accumu 
lated  torrent  poured  with  a  rush  into  the  large  res 
ervoir.  When  the  smaller  dam  had  emptied  itself, 
they  closed  it  up  again  in  order  to  strengthen  the 
resistance  of  the  main  one. 

Most  of  the  boys  were  armed  with  shovels  obtained 
from  home,  and  they  worked  diligently  as  beavers, 
building  the  walls  higher  and  higher  as  the  water  in 
creased  in  depth.  Soon  it  was  necessary  to  fortify 
the  curbstone  with  a  layer  of  snow  to  prevent  an 
overflow  on  to  the  sidewalk.  Every  few  minutes 
one  of  them  would  test  the  depth  by  wading,  and  it 
was  not  long  before  the  water  came  up  to  within 
half  an  inch  of  the  top  of  Jack's  rubber  boots,  so 


42  JACK   HALL. 

that  any  careless  movement  on  his  part  would  be 
sure  to  let  some  inside.  Their  number  was  rather 
smaller  than  usual,  as  some  of  the  "  crowd  "  which 
ordinarily  collected  in  front  of  the  grocery  shop  had 
gone  down  to  the  Frog  Pond  on  the  Common  to  see 
if  there  were  any  "  tiddledies,"  which,  as  all  Boston 
boys  know,  are  cakes  of  floating  ice  formed  during 
the  first  stages  of  a  thaw  ;  the  sport  being  to  jump 
from  one  to  another,  until  terra  firma  is  reached, 
without  tumbling  in.  This  was  one  of  the  favorite 
pastimes  of  Jack  and  his  friends.  The  water  of  the 
pond  was  only  deep  enough  to  give  one  a  thorough 
ducking,  and  though  whoever  was  so  unskillful  or 
unlucky  as  to  fall  in  was  sure  to  be  greeted  with  a 
jeer  of  derision,  it  may  be  fairly  doubted  whether 
the  most  miserable  participants  were  not  the  boys 
who  went  home  dry. 

But  Jack  considered  hftnself  very  well  employed 
as  it  was.  He  felt  pretty  sure  that  if  there  were 
tiddledies  to-day  there  would  be  tiddledies  to-mor 
row,  and  he  was  interested  in  making  the  dam  as 
high  as  his  waist,  if  it  were  possible.  There  was 
such  a  volume  of  water  in  the  basin  now  that  most 
of  their  active  force  was  employed  in  pasting  snow 


THE   SNOW-BALL    FIGHT.  43 

against  the  back  of  the  lower  wall,  through  which 
there  was  a  steady  leakage  in  spite  of  their  best 
efforts.  Two  or  three  of  them,  Jack  among  the 
number,  had  already  gone  in  over  their  boots  and 
wet  their  trousers  more  or  less  above  their  knees, 
so  that  now  they  stood  along  the  sidewalk,  or  in  the 
street,  gazing  contentedly  into  the  enormous  pool. 
Perhaps  they  realized  that  there  was  not  much 
more  to  be  done,  for  there  began  to  be  some  fool 
ing.  Bill  French  introduced  it  by  dropping  a  bit 
of  ice  down  Harry  Dale's  back,  gliding  away  in 
time  so  that  Harry  could  not  get  at  him.  Harry 
was  just  about  Bill's  size,  but  a  little  more  chunky. 
He  knew  that  Bill  could  outrun  him,  so  he  nursed 
his  wrath  for  the  present,  and,  keeping  his  eyes 
open,  bided  his  time. 

The  spirit  of  playing  tricks  upon  one  another 
proved  contagious,  so  that  the  dam  was  almost  for 
gotten  in  the  interest  of  several  flights  down  street 
and  subsequent  tussles.  Only  Jack  and  Dubsy 
still  worked  away  at  the  walls  now  and  then,  pil 
ing  fresh  snow  on  top  and  stopping  the  leaks.  All 
of  a  sudden,  as  Jack  was  standing  leaning  on  his 
shovel  trying  to  understand  how  a  fine  stream  of 


44  JACK   HALL. 

water  trickling  through  the  solid  wall  of  the  dam 
had  thus  been  able  to  defy  his  labors,  Harry  Dale 
made  a  dive  at  Bill  French,  who  was  just  behind 
Jack,  and  who  was  off  his  guard  at  the  moment. 
Bill  gave  a  shriek,  and,  to  protect  himself,  tried  to 
interpose  Jack  between  his  pursuer  and  himself  by 
seizing  Jack  roughly  by  the  shoulders.  Jack,  who 
had  been  already  annoyed  by  Bill  several  times, 
and  had  contented  himself  with  exclaiming,  "  Quit 
your  fooling,  Bill,"  or,  "  Let  up,  Bill,"  goaded  now 
by  what  he  supposed  to  be  a  fresh  attack,  dropped 
his  shovel,  seized  his  tormentor,  and  suddenly  pull 
ing  him  forward  by  a  quick  movement  brought  him 
to  his  knees ;  then  picking  up  a  handful  of  snow 
he  rubbed  it  freely  over  Bill's  face. 

"  That 's  the  sort,  Jack  ;  give  him  some  more  for 
me,"  cried  Harry. 

Bill,  who  was  struggling  with  all  his  might, 
sprang  to  his  feet  the  moment  he  was  let  free,  and 
launched  himself  with  rage  on  Jack's  neck.  In  an 
instant  Jack  had  grappled  with  him  in  self-defense. 
Bill,  who  was  thoroughly  angry  and  bent  on  upset 
ting  his  adversary,  twisted  one  of  his  legs  inside  of 
Jack's,  and  being  lithe  and  active,  though  small, 


THE   SNOW-BALL  FIGHT.  45 

made  it  incumbent  on  Jack  to  exert  himself  to 
avoid  being  thrown.  The  pair  swayed  violently 
for  several  moments,  then  Jack,  taking  advantage 
of  a  failure  of  Bill's  to  trip  him  up,  retaliated  in 
the  same  fashion,  and  over  they  went  with  Bill 
undermost.  They  struck  against  the  wall  of  the 
dam,  which  gave  way  before  them  with  a  slump. 
Jack,  realizing  what  the  catastrophe  promised  to 
be,  tore  himself  by  an  effort  of  strength  from  Bill's 
grasp  just  in  time  to  avoid  more  than  a  severe 
splashing,  although  he  fell  on  his  hands  and  knees, 
and  had  a  lively  scramble  to  get  away  from  the 
deluge  which  came  pouring  down  upon  him  as  soon 
as  the  flood-gates  were  removed.  But  poor  Bill, 
accelerated  probably  by  the  effort  which  saved 
Jack,  fell  with  the  wall  backwards  into  the  deepest 
part  of  the  dam,  so  that  his  head  and  the  upper 
portion  of  his  body  were  completely  submerged. 
For  an  instant  his  struggling  black  legs  only  were 
visible,  then  these  were  drawn  under  him  as  he 
reappeared  head  first  above  the  surface,  wallowing 
as  he  staggered  to  his  feet.  But  Bill  was  doomed 
to  still  further  discomfiture,  for  scarcely  had  he 
gained  a  footing  when  he  slipped  and  fell  sideways 


46  JACK  HALL. 

again  into  the  dirty,  slushy  water,  his  head  this 
time  striking  the  curbstone. 

The  pain  of  the  concussion  must  have  been  toler 
ably  smart,  but  anger  and  mortification  were  suffi 
cient  to  explain  Bill's  facial  expression  as  he  lay 
on  the  sidewalk  after  his  companions  had  dragged 
him  out.  His  eyes  were  shut  and  his  mouth  was 
wide  open,  but  from  it  at  first  no  sound  issued.  It 
seemed  to  the  others  as  if  the  expected  bawl  were 
never  coming.  But  it  came  at  last,  —  a  terribly 
vociferous  cry,  preceded  by  a  noise  like  the  hum 
ming  of  a  large  top,  which  increased  in  volume 
until  it  was  a  yell,  —  bursting  on  them  as  a  thunder 
storm  bursts  in  wind  and  rain  after  the  silence 
which  goes  before.  "  Boo-ooo-ooo  !  "  Then  it 
seemed  as  if  he  would  never  stop.  Jack  and  the 
other  boys,  who  were  rather  frightened,  bent  over 
him  with  anxious  faces,  but  it  was  soon  apparent 
that  Bill  was  more  mad  than  hurt. 

"I'm  very  sorry,  Bill;  I  didn't  mean  to  send 
you  into  the  dam,"  protested  Jack. 

This  attempt  at  consolation  only  induced  a  fresh 
fit  of  crying  on  the  part  of  the  victim,  which  was 
redoubled  when  he  saw  his  cap  trimmed  with  as- 


THE   SNOW-BALL   FIGHT.  47 

trachan  fished  out  with  a  shovel  from  the  bottom 
of  the  now  largely  depleted  dam  by  Dubsy  Per 
kins. 

"  It  was  an  accident ;  Jack  did  n't  mean  to," 
said  one  of  the  others. 

"  Served  you  right  for  fooling  so,  Bill,"  exclaimed 
Harry  Dale.  "  We  'd  all  told  you  to  quit."  Then 
turning  to  the  rest,  Harry  said,  "  He  ought  to  go 
home  or  he  '11  catch  cold,  fellows." 

Bill  sulkily  allowed  himself  to  be  lifted  to  his 
feet.  He  stood  shivering  and  dripping  like  a 
soused  pup,  sobbing  and  snuffling,  and  eying  rue 
fully  his  bedraggled  cap.  "  I  'II  make  you  pay  for 
this,  Jack  Hall,"  he  blurted  out. 

But  Jack  scarcely  heard  him,  for  just  at  the  mo 
ment  he  gave  a  start,  and  shading  his  eyes  with 
one  of  his  hands  gazed  intently  down  the  street. 

"  Here  come  the  muckers,  fellows,"  he  cried,  with 
excitement. 

His  companions  turned  eagerly  at  his  words  and 
looked  in  the  same  direction.  Sure  enough,  a  gang 
of  other  boys,  twenty  to  twenty-five  in  number,  had 
suddenly  Emerged  from  a  cross  street  at  some  little 
distance  below  and  was  advancing  up  hill.  As  the 


48 


JACK   HALL. 


invaders  perceived  that  they  were  recognized,  they 
set  up  a  derisive,  triumphant  yell,  and  dashed  on 
ward  at  a  rapid  dog-trot,  preparing  snow-balls  and 
waving  sticks. 

"  There's  a  regular  posse,"  cried  Jack.  "  Who  '11 
go  and  tell  the  other  fellows  ?  " 

"  I  will,"  cried  Harry  Dale,  and  suiting  the  action 
to  the  word  he  started  off  to  warn  their  friends, 
who  were  running  tiddledies. 

Meanwhile,  Jack  and  the  four  other  boys,  who 
were  all  there  were,  for  Bill  French  had  slipped 
away  to  change  his  clothes,  retreated  slowly  as 


THE   SNOW-BALL  FIGHT. 


49 


their  adversaries  advanced,  Jack  having  first,  with 
the  instinct  of  destroying  anything  that  the  enemy 
might  find  pleasure  in,  swept  away  with  his  shovel 
the  remaining  rampart  of  the  dam.  They  were 
outnumbered  for  the  moment  in  the  proportion  of 
four  to  one,  and  though  to  retire  was  ignominious, 
it  seemed  necessary  under  the  circumstances.  The 
vanguard  of  the  invading  army  now  began  to  dis 
charge  their  snow-balls,  the  shower  of  which  fell 
slightly  short,  but  served  to  whet  their  ardor. 


50  JACK   HALL. 

With  another  cheer  and  a  yell  the  "  muckers " 
rushed  forward,  headed  by  a  powerful  -  looking 
butcher's  boy,  close  by  whose  side  ran  the  raga 
muffin  who  earlier  in  the  day  had  threatened  this 
invasion,  and  who  could  be  heard  pointing  out 
Jack  and  Dubsy  as  special  objects  of  vengeance. 

"  Them  's  the  chumps,  go  for  'em  !  "  he  cried. 

The  little  band,  reluctant  to  run,  wavered  and 
hurled  back  a  volley  of  snow-balls,  which  were  re 
turned  with  vigor.  The  butcher's  boy  was  well 
known  in  that  quarter  of  the  city  as  a  terror. 
His  balls  made  solely  with  bare  hands  were  hard 
as  ice,  and  whizzed  like  bullets.  One  of  them  took 
Jack  in  the  cheek  and  stung  like  mischief,  so  that 
the  water  ran  out  of  the  eye  on  that  side  of  his 
face. 

"  Clean  'em  out !  "  yelled  the  little  instigator. 

The  consciousness  that  the  protecting  alley  was 
close  at  hand  nerved  the  boys  to  hold  their  ground 
for  a  moment  longer,  and  the  courage  displayed  by 
them,  supplemented  by  several  skillful  shots,  caused 
their  opponents  to  halt  and  advance  more  deliber 
ately.  Just  then  there  came  flying  round  the  cor 
ner  Harry  Dale,  at  the  head  of  the  detachment  of 


THE   SNOW-BALL   FIGHT.  51 

whom  he  had  gone  in  search,  and  whom  he  had 
found  in  the  next  street  peppering  the  passers-by 
in  a  listless  fashion,  and  only  too  glad  to  come  to 
the  succor  of  their  friends. 

"  To  the  rescue  !  "  cried  Dubsy,  waving  his  arms 
above  his  head ;  and  the  reinforcement  of  a  dozen 
boys  swept  down  upon  the  combatants. 

This  sudden  turn  of  affairs  was  too  much  for  the 
backers  of  Joe  Herring,  —  that  was  the  butcher 
boy's  .name,  —  who  turned  and  fled  precipitately, 
although  Joe  and  one  or  two  others  stood  their 
ground  manfully  and  tried  to  rally  them.  But  the 
counter  cheer  was  disheartening  to  an  army  with 
victory  in  its  very  grasp.  They  broke  and  ran 
helter-skelter,  followed  closely  by  Jack  and  his 
comrades.  Jack  kept  his  eye  especially  on  Joe 
Herring,  whom  he  longed  to  pay  back  for  the  blow 
on  his  cheek ;  but  even  Joe  did  not  wait  for  the 
new  victors  to  get  too  near,  but  ran  at  last.  As 
for  the  youngster  who  had  been  the  guide  of  the 
raiders,  he  had  taken  to  his  heels  at  the  earliest 
sign  of  danger,  and  was  among  the  first  to  reach 
the  halting-place,  where  the  rout  finally  paused,  not 
far  above  the  cross  street  from  which  thev  had 


52  JACK   HALL. 

emerged.  There  they  made  a  stand,  while  their 
pursuers,  who  were  not  too  flushed  with  success  to 
be  cautious,  being  still  numerically  inferior,  drew 
up  at  a  respectful  distance  and  held  a  council  of 
war. 

These  snow-ball  fights  were  of  tolerably  frequent 
occurrence  between  the  boys  who  lived  in  Jack's 
neighborhood  and  hordes  from  other  localities,  who 
were  apt  to  be  styled  muckers  by  those  whose  ter 
ritory  they  invaded.  Once  or  twice  every  winter 
skirmishes  such  as  the  one  now  in  progress  would 
develop  into  battles  of  some  magnitude,  enlisting 
the  services,  on  one  side  or  the  other,  of  all  the 
youth  in  that  part  of  the  city.  Contests  of  this 
kind  had  traditions  to  encourage  them.  Mr.  War 
ren,  of  whom  you  will  hear  later,  who  had  been 
the  college  chum  and  dear  friend  of  Jack's  father 
and  was  now  his  mother's  adviser,  had  often  told 
Jack  of  how,  in  the  days  long  before  he  and  Colo 
nel  Hall  were  boys,  there  had  been  relentless  strife 
between  the  Round-pointers  and  the  Nigger-hillers, 
and  the  North-enders  and  the  South-enders,  and 
the  Charlestown  pigs,  so  called,  which  last  named, 
in  the  language  of  a  local  bard,  — 


THE   SNOW-BALL   FIGHT.  53 

"  Put  on  their  wigs, 
And  over  to  Boston  came," 

only  to  be  routed  and  driven  back  without  them. 
Jack  delighted  in  the  accounts  of  these  old  con 
tests,  and  though  the  names  were  now  changed  he 
had  no  difficulty  in  seeing  in  the  Anderson-Streeters 
and  their  allies,  foes  no  less  terrible  than  the  boys 
with  whom  his  forefathers  had  fought. 

But  it  is  time  to  return  to  the  immediate  scene 
of  action,  where  both  sides  were  beginning  to  real 
ize  that  there  had  as  yet  been  no  real  fighting  to 
speak  of,  merely  a  feeling  of  one  another's  strength. 
Scouts  had,  apparently,  been  sent  out  by  the  muck 
ers  to  scour  the  country,  for  recruits  were  coming 
in  by  twos  and  threes.  They  were  a  motley-look 
ing  crew,  as  compared  with  Jack  and  his  friends, 
including  some  ragged  specimens  and  several 
negroes,  one  of  whom,  a  left-handed  lad  nick 
named  "Custard"  on  account  of  the  lightness  of 
his  sable,  was  unerring  in  his  shots.  Cardigans, 
for  the  most  part,  took  the  place  of  overcoats 
among  them,  but  some  wore  only  tightly  buttoned 
jackets,  and  kept  warm  by  kicking  their  toes  against 
the  curb-stones,  and  alternately  stuffing  their  hands 


54  JACK  HALL. 

into  their  pockets  or  blowing  on  their  bare  fin 
gers. 

From  time  to  time  they  jeered  at  and  insulted 
the  other  army,  who,  by  their  pea  jackets  and  rub 
ber  boots,  suggested  the  solidity  and  dignity  of 
grenadiers,  an  impression  which  was  heightened  by 
the  silent  disdain  with  which  they  received  the  vi 
tuperation  showered  upon  them. 

But  now  the  Anderson-Streeters,  having  accumu 
lated  a  goodly  supply  of  ammunition,  and  being 
twice  the  numbers  of  their  opponents,  show  signs 
of  an  intention  to  attack.  Their  pickets  edge  up 
gradually  on  the  sidewalk,  more  or  less  sheltered 
by  the  trunks  of  the  line  of  trees  which  grow 
there.  Snow-balls  begin  to  fly,  and  Joe  Herring  at 
one  point  and  Custard  at  another  move  forward  si 
multaneously,  which  is  the  signal  for  a  general  ad 
vance.  The  grenadiers  stand  firm  without  firing  a 
shot.  A  perfect  hail-storm  is  showered  upon  them, 
which  they  bear  unflinchingly.  A  loud  yell  spreads 
along  the  advancing  line,  and  the  flower  of  all  An 
derson  and  Pinckney  and  Revere  streets  comes 
dashing  on. 

"  Now  let  them  have  it,  fellows  !  "  cries  Jack  at 


THE   SNOW-BALL  FIGHT.  55 

last,  who,  with  General  Warren's  instruction  at 
Bunker  Hill,  of  which  he  had  recently  read,  fresh 
in  mind,  has  waited  to  see  the  whites  of  the 
enemy's  eyes  before  giving  the  order. 

"  That 's  the  sort ! "  shouts  Dubsy,  as  the  whole 
volley  delivered  at  short  range  goes  smashing  into 
the  faces  of  their  foes. 

It  is  so  deadly  a  volley  that  two  or  three  of  the 
muckers  clap  their  hands  to  their  eyes  and  cry  out 
with  pain ;  others  sputter  as  they  receive  the  big 
hard  balls  full  against  their  teeth.  Several  caps 
are  knocked  off  and  fall  into  the  snow.  Jack,  with 
his  attention  riveted  on  Joe  Herring,  sees,  to  his 
delight,  his  first  shot  take  the  leader  squarely  in 
the  forehead,  so  that  Joe  shakes  his  head  savagely 
like  an  angry  bull ;  yet,  putting  it  down,  comes 
on  in  butting  fashion  all  the  same,  and  hitting 
Jack  plump  in  the  stomach  nearly  sends  him  over. 
Custard,  too,  apparently  is  not  struck,  or  at  least, 
if  he  is,  does  not  mind  it,  and  though  some  falter 
he  does  not,  but  with  another  yell  rushes  at  the 
grenadiers.  These  muckers,  though  checked  for 
an  instant,  have  good  stuff  in  them. 

"  Give  it  to  them  again  !  "  cries  Jack,  who  seems 
to  be  recognized  as  the  commanding  officer. 


56  JACK   HALL. 

This  volley  is  well  delivered,  too,  but  the  on- 
comers  are  too  near  for  it  to  have  full  effect.  The 
balls  go  over  the  heads  of  Joe  and  Custard  and  the 
other  leaders,  and  before  there  is  time  to  say  Jack 
Robinson,  the  two  armies  are  at  close  quarters.  Joe 
Herring,  with  a  bound  like  a  wild-cat,  gets  his  arms 
round  the  neck  of  the  first  of  the  grenadiers  in  his 
path,  and  over  they  go  together,  with  Joe  on  top, 
and  rubbing  the  snow  about  his  adversary's  neck 
and  ears,  to  accomplish  which  to  the  best  advantage 
he  squats  upon  the  victim's  chest.  This  is  the  first 
feature  in  a  hand-to-hand  scrimmage  which  is 
waged  for  several  minutes  without  apparent  advan 
tage  on  either  side,  for  Jack  and  Dubsy  and  Bill 
Dale,  who  happen  to  be  close  together,  form  quite 
as  formidable  a  trio  as  any  opposed  to  them.  The 
muckers  fall  before  them  like  nine-pins,  and  scurry 
out  of  their  way.  Jack  gets  his  fingers  inside  the 
collar  of  his  original  enemy  of  the  morning,  and 
shaking  him  as  a  terrier  would  shake  a  mouse, 
dumps  him  face  downward  in  a  pile  of  snow  and 
slush.  This  does  Jack's  heart  good.  The  little 
wretch  blubbers  and  tries  to  use  the  stick  in  his 
hand,  which  Jack  snatches  away  from  him,  and  with 


THE   SNOW-BALL  FIGHT.  57 

a  proper  contempt  for  so  unfair  a  weapon  in  a  snow 
ball  fight,  sends  flying  over  the  wall  of  a  neighbor 
ing  yard.  Sam  Willis  and  George  Bird,  two  more 
of  Jack's  set,  do  yeoman  service  also  at  the  other 
end  of  the  line,  driving  their  opponents  back  and 
washing  the  faces  of  the  fallen  with  energy. 

As  used  to  happen  in  encounters  of  old,  when 
knights  and  other  warriors  contended  together,  the 
leaders  on  either  side  seem  at  first  to  fight  shy  of 
one  another.  They  slaughter  the  weaker  at  the, 
outset,  making  incursions  into  the  enemy's  line,  so 
that  often  the  two  armies  are  hopelessly  confused. 
Indeed,  Joe  Herring  and  Custard  are  a  hundred 
yards  apart  from  Jack  and  his  chief  allies,  and 
between  them  the  rank  and  file  are  intermingled 
higgledy-piggledy.  But  presently,  as  fatigue  and 
lack  of  pluck  begin  to  tell,  the  champions  find  that 
the  only  enemies  left  worthy  of  the  name  are  be 
hind  them,  and  by  a  common  instinct  turn  and  eye 
one  another,  while  the  feebler  boys  draw  off  a  little 
as  though  waiting  for  the  strife  to  be  settled  once 
and  for  all  by  a  battle  of  the  giants. 

Jack,  at  a  glance,  perceiving  that  Joe  Herring 
and  Custard  and  one  or  two  others  are  between  him 


58  JACK  HALL. 

and  the  main  body  of  his  friends,  and  seized  by 
what  he  feels  to  be  an  inspiration  of  generalship, 
shouts  to  Dubsy  and  Bill,  and  Sam  Willis  and 
George  Bird,  who  are  close  beside  him,  "  Cut  them 
off  !  cut  them  off  !  " 

Whereupon  Jack  springs  forward  at  the  head  of 
this  detachment,  imbued  with  the  idea,  which  they 
all  share  with  him,  of  raking  the  enemy's  vanguard 
fore  and  aft  before  the  chief  force  of  the  muckers 
«can  come  up  from  behind.  Inspirited  by  the  plan, 
those  above,  among  whom  Bill  French  appears  in 
dry  garments,  present  a  bold  front,  and  with  a 
shout  charge.  Joe  and  Custard,  realizing  their 
peril,  hesitate  for  an  instant,  while  a  shower  of  balls 
pours  in  upon  them,  whether  to  break  through  the 
rallied  array  of  grenadiers  or  to  seek  to  rejoin  their 
friends  ;  but  before  they  can  decide  they  are  forced 
to  defend  themselves.  There  are  five  of  them,  just 
equal  in  number  to  their  intervening  enemies,  who, 
with  gritted  teeth,  bear  down  upon  them.  Jack 
again  singles  out  Joe  Herring,  who,  adopting  his 
old  tactics,  lowers  his  head  and  plunges  forward. 
But  Jack  does  not  intend  to  have  his  wind  knocked 
out  of  him  a  second  time.  He  meets  Joe  with  an 


THE   SNOW-BALL  FIGHT.  59 

upper  cut  of  his  hand,  which,  though  covered  with 
a  mitten,  is  full  of  snow,  and,  jerking  the  butcher 
boy's  head  up,  grapples  with  him.  They  wrestle 
fiercely  ;  meanwhile,  three  of  the  other  muckers, 
beset  before  and  behind  at  the  same  moment,  are 
rolling  on  the  ground.  Only  Custard,  with  Dubsy 
hanging  about  his  neck  and  Bill  French  and  an 
other  boy  on  his  back,  still  struggles  for  freedom, 
shouting  energetically  for  his  friends.  They  are 
coming  by  the  score  as  fast  as  their  legs  will  carry 
them,  but  not  soon  enough  to  save  their  illus 
trious  leader  from  disaster.  Three  boys  eager  to 
leap  upon  Joe  Herring  are  prevented  only  by 
Jack's  decisive  "  Leave  him  to  me,"  so  stand  aloof 
ready  to  give  succor  if  it  be  needed.  It  is  scarcely 
a  fair  match.  Joe  is  nearly  a  head  taller  and  is  a 
year  older;  his  muscles  are  like  steel,  and,  more 
over,  he  has  thrashed  everybody  in  the  neighbor 
hood  who  has  ever  fought  with  him.  If  he  can 
once  shake  Jack  off,  he  will  soon  knock  the  stuffing 
out  of  him.  But  Jack  knows  this,  too,  and  having 
got  a  good  hold,  means  to  have  no  fisticuffs  if  he 
can  help  it.  He  intends  to  throw  Joe  if  he  can. 
He  hears  now,  as  they  pitch  from  one  side  to  the 


60  JACK   HALL. 

other  with  faces  scarcely  an  inch  apart,  the  yells  of 
the  great  body  of  muckers  closing  in  upon  them, 
and  knows  that  the  fight  is  being  renewed  on  more 
even  terms.  Joe  knows  it,  too,  and,  breathing 
hard,  makes  one  grand  effort  to  swing  his  antagonist 
off  his  feet,  so  as  to  be  able  to  bring  terror  once 
more  into  the  general  ranks.  Jack,  however,  is 
ready  for  him,  and,  resisting  stubbornly,  waits  until 
Joe  relaxes  his  muscles  a  little  as  the  great  effort 
proves  unsuccessful,  then  adroitly  twists  his  leg 
about  the  champion's  and  throws  him.  Down  they 
go  together,  but  Jack  uppermost,  and  —  long 
dreamed-of  triumph  of  his  life  —  able  to  secure 
a  seat  upon  the  butcher  hero's  chest,  and  to  stuff 
his  mouth  with  snow.  Joe's  eyes  are  green  as  they 
gaze  up  at  him,  and  remind  Jack  of  the  cat  whose 
death-throes  he  once  witnessed  after  the  dogs  had 
left  her.  This  was  the  simile  employed  by  Jack 
in  recounting  modestly  his  victory  that  evening  at 
the  tea  party. 

But  victory  though  it  was,  it  was  too  short  for 
comfort.  Before  Jack  has  time  to  rub  more  than 
a  handful  of  slush  over  his  victim's  face  and  ears, 
the  army  of  invasion,  by  dint  of  numbers,  drive  back 


THE   SNOW-BALL   FIGHT.  61 

the  grenadiers,  disputing  every  inch  of  ground,  and 
two  big  fellows  throw  themselves  upon  him  and  try 
to  drag  him  off  Joe.  Harry  Dale  is  on  top  of  them 
in  an  instant,  and  straightway  a  half  dozen  on  each 
side  precipitate  themselves  and  make  a  pile,  at  the 
bottom  of  which  lies  Joe  Herring  still  gripped  by 
Jack.  A  fearful  tussle  ensues ;  the  two  principals 
are  of  course  practically  powerless  to  move,  and  feel 
that  they  are  well  off  if  able  to  breathe  without  dif 
ficulty.  The  legs  of  both  are  firmly  grasped  by  a 
score  of  arms,  which  in  turn  are  kept  down  by  boys 
on  top  whom  others  seek  to  tear  away  from  the  pile. 
As  fast  as  one  is  pulled  off  another  takes  his  place  ; 
heads,  bodies,  and  limbs  are  hopelessly  intermingled, 
and  neither  party  seems  to  have  the  best  of  it. 

Just  as  Jack  is  -wondering  whether  Joe  is  alive, 
because  he  is  lying  so  still,  and  whether  he  himself 
will  not  stifle,  a  shrill  voice  on  the  outskirts  of  the 
fight  pipes  out,  "  Cheese  it !  Cheese  it ! " 

At  the  words  every  boy  ceases  action,  those  on 
the  pile  waiting  for  confirmation  of  the  news  which 
the  alarm  has  conveyed,  and  those  erect  following 
the  gaze  of  the  small  mucker  who  has  given  it,  and 
who  is  already  preparing  to  flee  down  the  street. 


62  JACK   HALL. 

As  their  eyes  perceive  at  the  street  corner  the  offi 
cer  in  a  blue  blouse  with  brass  buttons,  and  armed 
with  a  rattan,  advancing  upon  them  at  a  slightly 
quickened  gait,  a  dozen  of  the  urchin's  companions 
repeat  the  cry,  —  "  Cheese  it !  Cheese  it !  " 

In  the  twinkling  of  an  eye  the  pile  disintegrates 
itself ;  the  boys  of  either  faction  get  up  and  begin 
to  scatter,  the  muckers  hastily  and  fearfully,  the 
grenadiers  more  composedly,  and  yet  unequivocally. 
Jack  and  Joe  uncovered  are  free  to  rise,  which  they 
proceed  to  do  at  once  without  further  hostilities. 
Jack,  with  his  eye  on  the  policeman,  mingles  with 
the  band  of  his  friends  who,  gathered  on  the  oppo 
site  sidewalk  to  that  on  which  the  guardian  of  the 
peace  is  advancing,  are  hoping  to  slip  by  him  with 
out  molestation,  feeling,  perhaps,  that  inasmuch  as 
they  are  on  their  own  territory,  and  merely  defend 
ing  themselves  against  invasion,  pardon  may  not  be 
withheld  from  them.  They  take  care  to  be  so  far 
respectful  in  behavior  as  to  refrain  for  the  moment 
from  the  insulting  allusion  to  a  cheese  indulged  in 
by  their  late  adversaries,  which,  for  some  reason  or 
other,  had  come  to  be  the  recognized  phrase  of 
warning  and  insult  combined,  among  the  youth  of 


THE   SNOW-BALL  FIGHT.  63 

the  city,  in  referring  to  the  constabulary  ;  its  origin 

—  at  least  Jack  and   his  friends  always  supposed  so 

—  being  connected   with   the  theft,   either  real  or 
imagined,  at  an  earlier  date,  of  one  of  the  commod 
ities  in  question  by  a  member  of  the  force.     They 
await  his  coming,  grouped  together,  with  almost  an 
innocent  air.     On  the  other  hand  Joe,  the  moment 
he  is  free,  glances  over  his  shoulder  at  the  represen 
tative  of  order,  puts  two  fingers  in  his  mouth  prelim 
inary  to  emitting  a  piercing  whistle,  shouts  "  Cheese 
it  I  "  at  the  top  of  his  lungs,  and  scoots  down  the 
street  at  full  speed  to  the  spot  where  he  had  depos 
ited  his  butcher's  basket.     This  regained,  he  con 
tinues    his  flight    at    a    more    leisurely    pace  until 
distance  hides  him  from  view.     His  exodus  is  the 
signal  for  a  general  stampede  of  his  followers,  who 
disappear  principally  into  the  cross  street  by  which 
they  had  come,  pursued  with  some  swiftness  by  the 
officer,  galled,  perhaps,  by  their  impertinence,  or 
encouraged  by  their  pusillanimity.      Jack  and  his 
grenadiers,  not  having  hoped  in  vain  that  the  en 
gine  of  the  law  would   pass   them   by   unharmed, 
survey  the  retreat  in  complacent  silence  until  the 
policeman    is    comfortably   remote,   then  at   a  sig- 


64  JACK   HALL. 

nal  raise  their  voices  in  a  prolonged,  ungenerous, 
"  Cheese  it !  " 

The  officer  turns  and  looks  back  at  them  angrily, 
and  raises  his  cane  in  so  threatening  a  manner  that 
some  of  the  fainter-hearted  stai't  to  run  into  Jack's 
alley- way.  But  the  alarm  is  short-lived;  their  en 
emy,  after  an  instant's  hesitation,  pi-oceeds  on  his 
way,  reflecting  doubtless  on  the  ingratitude  of  boys. 
The  snow-ball  fight  is  over,  and  ten  minutes  later 
the  grenadiers  separate  to  their  homes. 


CHAPTER   III. 

A  DAY   OF   BECKONING. 

JACK'S  first  thought  on  reentering  the  house  was 
for  his  tea-party,  so  he  went  into  the  dining-room, 
where  he  found  Hannah,  to  his  satisfaction,  already 
setting. the  table. 

"  Got  the  cream  cakes  ?  "  he  asked. 

"Yes,  sir,"  answered  Hannah.  "  Sakes  alive, 
Master  Jack,  where  've  you  been?" 

"  Snow-balling.  We've  had  an  awful  fight  with 
the  muckers." 

"  I  guess  they  gave  it  to  you,  then,"  replied 
Hannah,  whose  sympathies  in  the  matter  of  snow 
ball  fights  were  not,  perhaps,  wholly  on  the  side 
of  her  charge,  as  her  home  was  in  the  vicinity  of 
Anderson  Street.  "  You  're  wetted  from  head  to 
foot;  go  right  up-stairs  and  get  off  those  things." 

"They  didn't  lick  us  any  more  than  we  licked 
them.  I  threw  Joe  Herring,  and  they  all  piled  on 
me,  and  that 's  how  we  were  when  the  '  cheese  it ' 


66  JACK   HALL. 

came,"  said  Jack.  He  went  to  the  mirror  and  ex 
amined  his  cheek,  which  was  beginning  to  feel  a 
little  swollen  where  the  butcher  boy's  snow-ball 
had  struck  it  under  the  eye. 

"  I  guess  it  won't  be  black,"  he  said,  under  his 
breath.  "Holloa!"  he  exclaimed,  as  he  seated 
himself  on  the  edge  of  one  of  the  leather  chairs. 
"  My  tails  are  gone."  By  way  of  explanation  he 
held  out  his  Scotch  cap,  from  which  both  the  rib 
bons  which  ordinarily  fluttered  in  the  breeze  had 
been  torn  off. 

Hannah  sighed.  "That's  the  third  time  this 
week,"  she  said.  "  Get  up  this  minute,  Master 
Jack,"  she  continued  vehemently;  "you're  ruining 
the  nice  furniture.  Your  mamma  would  have  a  fit 
if  she  could  see  you." 

The  cause  of  this  outbreak  was  that  Jack,  hav 
ing  plumped  himself  down  as  described,  was  trying 
to  remove  one  of  his  rubber  boots  by  pressing  its 
heel  against  the  toe  of  the  other.  It  yielded  sud 
denly,  and  at  the  same  time  a  quantity  of  loose 
snow  was  scattered  over  the  carpet. 

"  Jiminy  !  "  exclaimed  Jack. 

"  Go  right  up-stairs  the  back  way  this  minute. 


A   DAY   OF   RECKONING.  67 

Why,  your  leg  is  wet  as  sop  as  high  as  your  knee," 
said  Hannah. 

"The  dam  was  over  my  boots,"  he  answered. 
"  We  made  a  bully  dam,"  he  continued,  hobbling 
toward  the  door  on  one  leg  with  his  bootless  foot 
drawn  up  like  a  stork. 

Hannah  followed  him  up  to  his  room,  where  she 
proceeded  to  pull  off  the  other  boot.  It  was  harder 
to  start  than  its  mate.  Accordingly  Jack  tipped 
himself  back  on  the  bed  so  that  she  could  get  a 
purchase  with  her  foot  against  the  iron  frame. 

"  Golly ! "  he  cried,  as  a  small  deluge  of  water 
flowed  back  over  him.  The  boot  stuck  like  a  vise, 
and  came  off  at  last  amid  a  splutter  of  slosh. 
Hannah  was  breathless. 

"Now  take  off  every  stitch  of  clothes,  or  you 
shan't  have  a  bit  of  supper  this  blessed  night,"  she 
said  with  decision,  as  she  turned  to  go. 

Fifteen  minutes  later  Jack  sat  waiting  in  the 
parlor  to  receive  his  friends,  looking  a  pattern  of 
spruceness.  His  broad  white  collar  was  set  off.  by 
a  cherry  tie ;  he  wore  knickerbockers,  red  stockings, 
and  pumps,  and  his  hair  lay  smooth  and  neatly 
parted.  Although  he  appeared  ordinarily  in  trousers, 


68  JACK  HALL. 

his  mother  still  made  an  exception  in  favor  of  knick 
erbockers  in  the  case  of  his  Sunday  go-to-meeting 
suit.  He  bad  walked  three  times  round  the  dining- 
room  table,  with  his  hands  in  his  pockets,  surveying 
the  delicacies,  so  as  to  make  sure  that  nothing  had 
been  forgotten,  before  composing  himself.  But  he 
had  not  long  to  waii ;  the  bell  rang  loudly  three 
times  in  quick  succession,  and  promptly  at  the  hour 
set  for  the  feast  the  three  guests  and  their  host 
took  their  seats  at  table.  They  all  four  looked 
very  smiling,  and  showed  no  ill  results  from  the 
experiences  of  the  day.  Bill  French,  apparently, 
had  quite  forgiven  Jack  for  his  ducking,  though  he 
took  a  mild  revenge  by  observing — "Your  eye '11 
be  black  to-morrow." 

"I  threw  him,  any  way,"  answered  Jack,  refer 
ring,  of  course,  to  Joe  Herring. 

They  talked  the  fight  over  in  detail,  and  as  they 
discussed,  the  good  things  disappeared  with  aston 
ishing  rapidity.  Nothing  was  wanting;  the  cream 
cakes  were  fat  fellows,  and  Jack  showed  strict  im 
partiality  and  skill  in  dividing  the  extra  two  so 
that  each  of  the  company  should  get  an  equal 
amount  of  the  inside. 


A   DAY   OF   RECKONING.  69 

Dubsy  had  received  the  wishbone  of  the  chicken, 
which  he  carefully  picked  and  held  out  to  Jack  to 
pull  with  him.  "  Wish  !  "  he  cried. 

"  I  am  wishing,"  said  Jack,  after  a  pause. 

The  others  looked  on  with  interest  while  the  two 
holders  pulled  energetically  to  tear  the  forked  bone 
apart.  Not  being  dry,  it  resisted  their  efforts  for 
some  moments,  but  at  last  broke  on  Jack's  side 
just  below- the  crotch,  so  that  Dubsy  retained  the 
larger  piece,  thus  becoming  the  winner. 

"What  did  you  wish  for,  Dubsy?"  they  all 
asked. 

"  I  wished  that  it  might  always  be  Washington's 
Birthday,"  said  Dubsy  jubilantly. 

This  seemed  to  every  one  an  eminently  sensible 
wish,  though  Harry  Dale  qualified  it  by  remarking, 
"  I  'd  rather  have  every  day  Fourth  of  July." 

"  That 's  so,"  said  Bill  French.  "  Father 's  prom 
ised  me  a  big  show  of  fireworks,  this  year." 

"  What  was  your  wish,  Jack  ? "  asked  Dubsy 
suddenly. 

"  That 's  telling." 

'•  Of  course  you  ought  to  tell,"  said  Harry. 

"  Not  if  I  lost." 


70  JACK   HALL. 

"  It  can't  come  true,  any  way,"  said  Bill  French. 

"  How  do  you  know  ?  "  retorted  Jack  sharply. 

"  What  was  it,  then  ?  "  asked  Bill. 

Jack  hesitated  a  moment.  "  I  wished,"  he  said 
a  trifle  bashfully,  "  that  when  I  grew  up  there 
might  be  a  war  and  I  might  be  a  colonel,  like  my 
father." 

The  boys  followed  Jack's  glance  at  the  oil  por 
trait,  over  the  mantelpiece,  of  the  handsome  officer 
gazing  down  on  them,  whose  face  and  dark  hair 
were  not  unlike  his  son's,  and  became  contempla 
tive. 

"  He  was  a  soldier,  too,"  continued  Jack,  point 
ing  to  a  portrait  of  Israel  Hall  at  the  other  side  of 
the  room.  "  He  was  my  great-great-grandfather, 
and  was  killed  at  the  battle  of  Brandywine." 

"Are  all  these  your  relations?"  asked  Harry, 
indicating  the  half-dozen  pictures  on  the  walls, 
among  which  the  strong  features  of  the  old  Salem 
sea-captain  looked  forth  stanchly. 

"  Yes,"  answered  Jack.  "  The  others  were  mer 
chants." 

"  That 's  what  I  mean  to  be  when  I  'm  a  man," 
said  Bill  French.  "  And  when  I  'm  rich  I  mean  to 


A  DAY  OF  RECKONING.  71 

have  a  steam  yacht.  Father 's  going  to  give  me  a 
cat-boat,  this  summer." 

By  this  time  they  had  got  to  the  puff  cakes, 
which  proved  to  be  all  that  Hannah  had  predicted. 
After  finishing  his  third  help,  Dubsy  patted  his 
stomach  complacently  and  observed  that  he  was 
full  up  to  the  muzzle,  which  seemed  to  be  each 
one's  sentiment  as  regards  himself,  though  to  tell 
the  truth  there  was  scarcely  anything  left  to  eat 
on  the  table. 

How  to  spend  the  evening  was  now  the  problem. 
For  a  while  a  bagatelle  board  sufficed  for  their 
amusement,  but  growing  weary  of  that,  Bill  French 
chanced  to  draw  up  the  window-shade  a  little  and 
peep  outdoors.  It  was  a  fine  night,  with  plenty  of 
stars,  but  no  moon.  The  other  boys  joined  him, 
and  all  four  stood  with  their  noses  pressed  against 
the  pane. 

"  Golly ! "  exclaimed  Jack  suddenly,  in  a  de 
lighted  whisper,  "  I  know  what  we  '11  do."  He 
put  his  finger  to  his  lips  and  proceeded  to  run  up 
stairs  two  steps  at  a  time,  but  noiselessly  as  a  cat, 
until  he  reached  his  room.  Without  needing  to  light 
the  gas,  for  he  knew  the  whereabouts  of  every- 


72  JACK   HALL. 

thing  well  enough  to  find  it  blindfolded,  Jack  rum 
maged  in  his  tool-chest  for  a  piece  of  chalk  and  a 
ball  of  twine.  Then  he  started  down-stairs  again, 
stopping  in  the  parlor  a  moment  to  obtain  a  sheet 
of  paper  from  his  mother's  desk.  With  these  im 
plements  the  four  boys,  having  put  on  their  over 
coats,  slipped  out  the  front  way  and  carefully  closed 
the  door  behind  them. 

As  soon  as  they  were  outside,  Jack  stooped  and 
with  his  piece  of  chalk  drew  on  the  bottom  door 
step  the  outline  of  an  envelope,  which  he  whitened 
and  whitened  within  until  it  stood  out  so  distinctly 
that  any  one  opening  the  door  would  be  certain  to 
be  misled.  Then  he  rang  the  bell,  after  which 
all  four  glided  across  the  street  to  hide  in  the 
shadow  of  the  grocer's  shop.  Hannah,  who  an 
swered  the  bell,  stared  with  surprise  at  first,  and 
then  perceiving  the  envelope,  as  she  supposed,  de 
scended  the  steps  to  pick  it  up,  but  naturally  her 
fingers  scratched  against  the  cold  granite.  A  sec 
ond  time  she  made  the  same  attempt,  but  with  no 
better  result.  The  chuckle  which  Harry  Dale  was 
just  then  unable  to  repress  was  not  necessary,  per 
haps,  to  make  clear  to  her  that  she  was  the  victim 


A   DAY   OF   RECKONING.  73 

of  a  practical  joke ;  at  any  rate,  she  bounced  up 
and  slammed  the  door  indignantly  behind  her. 

This  trick  was  repeated  once  or  twice  at  other 
houses,  varied  by  a  second  of  a  similar  character, 
which  consisted  in  fastening  a  string  to  the  real 
piece  of  paper  and  jerking  it  away  on  to  the  side 
walk  as  the  street-door  opened.  The  unfortunate 
maid- servant,  supposing  that  the  wind  had  carried 
it  away,  would  follow  for  some  little  distance  the 
paper,  flitting  along  at  intervals,  until  the  truth 
dawned  upon  her  that  she  had  to  deal  with  "  them 
boys." 

But  the  novelty  of  this  mischief  wore  off  after  a 
few  experiments,  and  the  culprits  arranged  them 
selves  on  the  sill  of  the  grocer's  large  window,  like 
a  row  of  sparrows,  to  cogitate  as  to  what  they 
should  do  next. 

"  Let 's  smash  lamp-posts,"  said  Dubsy. 

"  I  've  promised  my  mother  not  to  any  more," 
answered  Jack  sadly. 

"Well,  I  haven't,"  said  Bill  Dale;  whereupon 
he  aimed  a  snow-ball  at  the  corner  gaslight  and 
let  drive.  A  crash  of  glass  followed,  and  the  boys 
ran  like  deer  until  they  were  safe  in  Jack's  alley- 


74  JACK  HALL. 

way ;  from  this  they  cautiously  peeped  out  after  a 
moment  or  two,  and,  no  policeman  or  other  censor 
being  in  sight,  leisurely  sauntered  forth  again. 

"  I  know  what  let 's  do,"  said  Bill  French  sud 
denly  in  his  confidential  tone.  "  Give  me  the 
string,  Jack."  Taking  the  ball  of  twine,  Bill  went 
noiselessly  across  the  street  and  up  the  steps  of  the 
house  immediately  opposite,  which  was  occupied  by 
a  gentleman  who  was  known  to  them  all  as  "  Stiffy 
Bacon."  Mr.  Bacon,  who  was  regarded  by  his  con 
temporaries  as  a  very  worthy  person,  had  thus  far 
been  unable  to  preserve  friendly  relations  with  the 
boys  who  congregated  at  the  corner,  and  who,  as  a 
consequence,  delighted  in  making  his  life  misera 
ble.  His  house  and  the  one  adjoining  fronted  on  a 
narrow  terrace,  some  six  or  eight  feet  above  the 
level  of  the  sidewalk,  which  was  approached  by  a 
few  winding  stairs  at  either  end. 

Bill  fastened  the  fine  twine  around  the  bell-han 
dle,  and  letting  it  unwind  returned  to  the  alley-way 
with  the  ball,  having  established  a  taut  line  across 
the  street  at  a  height  which  would  endanger  the 
hat  of  any  passer.  The  street  was  pretty  well  de 
serted  at  this  hour,  but  the  boys  were  content  to 


A  DAY  OF  RECKONING.  75 

wait  with  a  patience  worthy  of  a  better  cause.  It 
must  have  been  five  minutes  before  Jack  exclaimed, 
"  I  hear  some  one  coming." 

They  listened,  and  could  plainly  distinguish  foot 
falls  and  the  resonance  from  the  ferule  of  a  cane 
on  the  opposite  side.  The  person  was  coining  up 
hill,  and  soon,  to  their  delight,  proved  to  be  a  man 
wearing  a  silk  hat. 

"  Now 's  your  time,"  said  Jack  to  Bill,  who  had 
hold  of  the  string. 

Bill  accordingly  pulled  the  bell  and  adjusted  the 
line  to  what  seemed  the  proper  height.  The  mis 
chief-makers  were  rewarded  by  perceiving  the  door 
open  and  the  gentleman,  who  was  walking  rather 
fast,  come  abreast  of  the  twine  at  precisely  the 
same  moment,  a  consummation  for  which  they  had 
fondly  hoped.  The  unwary  pedestrian  was  brought 
up  short ;  his  silk  hat  flew  oflf  and  striking  upon 
the  bricks  with  a  hollow  thud  bumped  along  the 
street ;  while  the  other,  who  happened  by  chance 
to  be  no  one  less  than  Stiffy  Bacon  himself,  en 
countering  only  empty  space  and  then  hearing  the 
mutte rings  of  surprise  and  indignation  below, 
stepped  forward  and  peered  over  the  railing.  There 


76  JACK   HALL. 

was  a  gas  lamp  a  hundred  and  fifty  yards  away 
which  enabled  Mr.  Bacon,  as  he  thought,  to  distin 
guish  the  disaster  and  to  divine  the  cause. 

"  What  do  you  mean,  sir,  by  ringing  at  my  bell 
at  this  hour  in  that  condition  ?  "  he  asked  angrily. 

"  What  do  you  mean,  sir,  by  obstructing  the  high 
way  in  such  an  outrageous  manner?"  retorted  the 
stranger,  who,  having  picked  up  his  hat,  was  en 
deavoring  to  smooth  its  nap  against  his  coat-sleeve. 

"  You  are  intoxicated,  sir,"  replied  Stiffy  Bacon. 

"  How  dare  you  insult  a  gentleman  in  such  a 
fashion  ;  you  are  an  insolent  scoundrel,  sir !  I  "will 
enter  a  complaint  against  you  in  the  morning  for 
obstructing  the  highway  and  for  defamation  of 
character,  —  yes,  sir,  for  defamation  of  character." 

The  unfortunate  stranger,  who  drew  himself  up 
to  his  full  height  as  he  delivered  this  speech,  had 
such  an  air  of  injured  respectability  and  spoke  with 
so  much  assurance  that  Mr.  Bacon,  although  very 
angry,  peered  forward  a  little  further  and  ex 
claimed,  "  I  obstructing  the  highway  ?  Explain 
yourself." 

li  What  do  you  call  this,  I  should  like  to  know, 
but  obstructing  the  highway  ?  "  replied  the  victim, 


A   DAY   OF  RECKONING.  77 

pawing  the  air  in  search  of  the  twine  which  Bill, 
immediately  after  the  catastrophe,  had  let  drop  so 
that  it  lay  along  the  sidewalk.  "  Fastening  a  rope 
across  the  street  to  cut  the  throats  of  honest  folk 
at  night  is  akin  to  manslaughter.  Ah,  here  it  is." 

He  picked  up  the  string  at  his  feet,  and,  perceiv 
ing  that  it  dangled  down  from  the  terrace,  shook  it 
indignantly  at  his  insulter.  "  There,  sir,  what  do 
you  think'of  that?" 

Apprised  by  the  rubbing  of  the  string  against 
his  leg  that  something  was  wrong,  Mr.  Bacon 
glanced  around  him  and  in  an  instant  realized  the 
situation. 

"  My  dear  sir,"  Mr.  Bacon  protested,  "  you  will 
excuse  me.  This  is  none  of  my  doing;  it  is  the 
work  of  some  bad  boys  who  are  a  torment  to  this 
neighborhood." 

"  They  ought  to  be  arrested  ;  I  'd  make  short 
work  of  them  if  I  lived  here,"  said  the  gentleman, 
brandishing  his  cane.  "  Another  time,  sir,  perhaps 
you  will  be  more  careful  as  to  the  aspersions  which 
you  cast  on  respectable  people.  Good-evening,  sir." 
Whereupon  the  stranger  stalked  away  at  his  pre 
vious  rapid  gait. 


78  JACK  HALL. 

Meanwhile,  the  boys  had  been  squatting  still  as 
mice  in  the  dark  alley,  almost  afraid  to  breathe  for 
fear  of  giving  any  indication  as  to  their  where 
abouts.  The  affair  had  exceeded  in  dramatic  effect 
their  wildest  anticipations,  and  there  had  been  mo 
ments,  especially  when  the  stranger  had  brandished 
his  stick,  during  which  they  had  felt  a  common  im 
pulse  to  run  into  the  house.  But  now  that  they 
had  only  Stiffy  Bacon  to  concern  themselves  about, 
terrible  as  he  was,  a  feeling  of  relief  so  far  took 
possession  of  them,  that  the  irrepressible  Harry 
Dale,  unable  to  contain  himself  longer,  chuckled 
again.  Mr.  Bacon,  who  had  stooped  to  examine 
the  arrangement  of  the  device  by  which  he  had 
been  victimized,  caught  the  sound,  and,  turning  in 
their  direction,  shook  his  fist  and  exclaimed,  "  You 
young  rascals,  you  !  " 

At  these  strenuous  words,  which  were  delivered 
in  what  seemed  to  them  a  tone  of  terrible  wrath, 
the  young  evil-doers  turned  and  fled  with  precipi 
tation  up  the  alley,  save  Jack,  who  lingered  for  an 
instant  to  pick  up  the  ball  of  twine  and  pull  the 
line  as  taut  as  possible  with  all  his  might.  He 
could  hear  the  jangling  of  the  bell  as  he  followed 


A  DAY  OF  RECKONING.  79 

the  footsteps  of  his  companions,  who  ran  through 
the  back  yard  into  the  house  again.  From  the  win 
dows  of  the  dining-room  the  four  peeped  once  more 
into  the  street,  but  all  was  still.  Stiffy  Bacon  had 
apparently  retired  to  his  lair.  After  watching  a 
sufficient  time  to  make  sure  that  the  enemy  was 
not  lying  in  wait  for  them,  Jack's  visitors  ventured 
to  take  leave  of  their  host,  as  it  was  now  half-past 
nine,  and  in  fifteen  minutes  more  Jack  himself  was 
sound  .asleep. 

An  hour  later,  Mrs.  Hall  returned  home.  Step 
ping  into  the  laundry,  as  was  her  custom  every 
night  before  going  to  bed,  to  make  sure  that  all 
was  safe  from  fire,  she  saw  Jack's  mittens  and  pea- 
jacket  hanging  up  to  dry,  and  smiled  to  herself  as 
she  thought  of  the  happy  day  he  must  have  passed. 
Hannah,  who  would  sooner  have  cut  off  her  right 
hand  than  have  got  Jack  into  trouble,  had  already 
reported  to  her  mistress  that  the  tea  party  had  been 
a  great  success,  and  smothered  her  own  resentment 
at  having  been  made  to  scratch  her  finger-nails  on 
the  stone  step.  Before  entering  her  chamber,  Mrs. 
Hall  went  into  Jack's  room,  and,  bending  over  the 
little  iron  bedstead,  stood  watching  for  some  min- 


80 


JACK   HALL. 


utes  his  peaceful,  regular  breathing.     "  Dear  boy ! " 
she  murmured,  "  what  should  I  do  without  him  ?  " 


She  stooped  and  kissed  his  soft  cheek,  which  unex 
pectedly  aroused  him. 

"  Is  that  you,  mother  ?  "  he  asked. 

"  Yes,  dear  ;  good-night." 


A   DAY   OF   RECKONING.  81 

"  But  I  'ra  not  asleep ;  you  must  n't  go."  He 
rubbed  his  eyes  and  sat  up  in  bed. 

"  It 's  late,  dear  ;  lie  down  again.  Have  you  had 
a  happy  holiday  ?  " 

"  Bully,  mother  ;  sit  down,  I  want  to  tell  you 
about  it.  You  shall-  stay,"  said  Jack,  putting  his 
arm  about  her  neck  and  drawing  her  cheek  against 
his  own. 

"  You  shall  tell  me  all  about  it  in  the  morning." 

"  No  ;   now,  mother." 

"Well,  dear?" 

Jack  was  silent  a  moment.  "  I  smoked  to-day," 
he  blurted  out. 

"Smoked?" 

"  Yes  ;  it  wasn't  tobacco,  it  was  rattan.  Dubsy 
and  Bill  French  smoked  too.  Dubsy  was  sick  af 
terwards  ;  I  was  n't  sick,  but  I  felt  queer." 

"  Why,  how  came  you  to  do  that,  Jack  ?  You 
must  have  known  that  it  was  wrong." 

Jack  said  nothing,  but  played  with  his  mother's 
hand. 

"  Did  n't  you,  dear  ?  " 

"  Yes,"  he  whispered. 

"  Who  put  such  an  idea  into  your  head  ?  "  she 
asked. 


82  JACK  HALL. 

"  Bill  French.  I  guess  he  smokes  lots  ;  we  went 
on  top  of  his  house,  so  that  no  one  could  see  us." 

"  You  forget,  ray  dear,  that  God  saw  you,"  said 
his  mother. 

Jack  was  pensive  a  moment.  "  And  Washing- 
tori  ?  "  he  asked. 

"  Sh  !  "  Mrs.  Hall  was  a  little  doubtful  how  to 
take  this  observation. 

"Do  you  suppose,"  Jack  went  on  after  a  mo 
ment,  "  that  he  knows  his  birthday  is  a  holiday  ?  " 

"  I  think  very  likely,  dear." 

Jack  was  again  silent.     "  Mother?  " 

"Well?" 

"  Bill  French  says  that  when  you  smoke  rattan 
the  blood  is  sucked  out  of  your  lungs ;  do  you  be 
lieve  it 's  true  ?  " 

Mrs.  Hall  started  a  little,  but  a  moment's  reflec 
tion  enabled  her  to  answer  composedly,  "  No,  dear, 
certainly  not ;  such  a  thing  would  be  impossible." 

"  He  showed  us  the  dried  blood  in  the  rattan, 
afterwards." 

"Nonsense,  dear.  Bill  French  was  trying  to 
make  sport  of  you." 

«  Charley  Buck  told  him  so." 


A   DAY   OF   RECKONING.  83 

"Charley  Buck  ought  to  know  better,  then. 
Charley  is  too  old  to  tell  such  foolish  things  to  little 
boys.  What  he  says  about  the  blood  is  n't  true ; 
but  it  would  make  me  very  unhappy  to  have  you 
smoke,  Jack,  until  you  are  a  man.  It's  a  very  bad 
habit  for  a  boy  to  get  into,  no  matter  what  he 
smokes,  rattan  or  anything  else.  But  I  'in  very 
glad  you  told  me,  Jack.  If  you  had  concealed  it 
from  me  and  I  had  found  it  out,  I  should  have  been 
very  unhappy." 

"  I  did  n't  want  to  go  to  sleep  until  I  'd  told  you," 
answered  Jack,  drawing  her  cheek  closer  to  his  own. 

"  You  will  promise  me  not  to  smoke  again  ?  " 

Jack  promised,  and  then  laid  himself  down  again 
perfectly  happy,  still  clasping  his  mother's  hand, 
which  she  did  not  withdraw  until  he  had  returned 
to  the  land  of  dreams. 

But  while  Mrs.  Hall  was  dressing  in  the  morn 
ing,  Hannah  brought  word  that  Jack  had  waked  up 
covered  with  a  rash,  and  that  he  complained  of  a 
headache.  The  doctor  was  hastily  sent  for,  but 
on  his  arrival  the  fears  of  anything  serious  were 
promptly  dispelled  by  the  announcement  that  Jack 
had  a  thorough  case  of  measles.  The  loss  of  the 


84  JACK  HALL. 

holiday  outdoors  seemed  to  be  very  nearly  made  up 
to  the  invalid  himself  by  the  news  that  he  could  not 
be  able  to  return  to  school  for  a  fortnight  at  least; 
and  his  mother,  who  sat  beside  his  bed  for  a  while 
after  the  doctor  had  gone,  was  on  the  point  of  leav 
ing  him  with  a  comparatively  light  heart  to  his 
own  devices,  when  word  was  brought  her  that  Mr. 
Eriggs,  the  grocer,  was  down-stairs  and  would  like 
to  see  her. 

"  He  has  probably  come  to  explain  why  his  last 
supply  of  coffee  is  so  much  poorer  than  I  have  usu 
ally  had,"  said  Mrs.  Hall  to  herself. 

But  Mr.  Briggs  had  come  for  a  very  different 
purpose.  He  looked  very  grave  and  a  little  embar 
rassed  as  she  entered  the  sitting-room  into  which 
he  had  been  shown.  He  was  a  tall  and  rather  thin 
man,  with  a  worried  expression,  which  became  in 
tensified  as  he  proceeded  to  explain  the  reason  of 
his  visit.  "  I  've  come,  ma'am,  to  say  that  something 
must  be  done  about  that  boy  of  yours.  I  've  stood 
it  a  good  many  years,  ma'am,  and  my  patience  is 
pretty  much  exhausted,  I  'm  free  to  confess." 

Mrs.  Hall  colored  violently.  "  Are  you  speaking 
of  Jack,  Mr.  Briggs  ?  " 


A  DAY  OF  RECKONING.  85 

"  Yes,  ma'am.  If  I  may  be  so  bold,  he  's  a  very 
troublesome  young  gentleman,  and  there  's  plenty 
in  the  neighborhood  who  think  as  I  do,"  he  said 
respectfully. 

"  Sit  down,  Mr.  Briggs  ;  what  has  he  been  doing 
now?" 

"You  know  it  ain't  the  first  time  I've  had  to 
complain,"  he  remarked  apologetically. 

Mrs.  Hall- bowed  coldly. 

"  If  it  is  n't  one  thing  it 's  another,"  he  continued. 
"I  'rn  willing  to  put  up  with  their  coming  into  the 
shop  and  purloining  beans  and  dried  apples  and  figs 
which  they  don't  pay  for,  knowing  as  boys  is  boys; 
but  when  it  comes  to  "  — 

"  What  I  you  don't  mean  to  tell  me  that  my  son 
takes  things  from  your  store  which  he  does  n't  pay 
for !  "  interrupted  Mrs.  Hall,  in  a  horrified  tone. 
"  Why,  that  would  be  stealing." 

"  Yes,  ma'am,  strictly  speaking,  I  suppose  it 
would,"  replied  the  grocer,  with  a  judicial  air. 
"But  as  I  was  telling  you,  I  'm  willing  to  say  noth 
ing  about  that  for  the  sake  of  your  custom,  provided 
as  no  more  snow  is  fired  into  my  cellar.  The  bas 
ket  into  which  the  baker  drops  the  rolls  for  my  cus- 


86  JACK  HALL. 

tomers  is  so  wet  every  morning  that  they  're  mostly 
spoiled,  to  say  nothing  of  the  dents  in  the  door  from 
the  snow-balls  and  stones  which  don't  go  in.  I  only 
want  to  be  reasonable,  or  I  'd  send  in  a  bill  for  my 
wheelbarrow  which  some  of  them  broke  last  week 
by  upsetting  it  down  the  area  steps.  I  've  told  you 
most  of  this  before,  ma'am,"  he  continued,  after  a 
pause,  "  and  you  've  promised  to  speak  to  your  son.'' 

"I  have  spoken,  Mr.  Briggs.  I  have  cautioned 
him  particularly  to  let  your  wheelbarrow  alone,  and 
not  to  fire  snow-balls  at  your  door.  But  this  steal 
ing  is  a  more  serious  affair,  and  shall  be  put  a  stop 
to  at  once." 

"  It  is  n't  the  stealing  that  I  care  about,"  replied 
Mr.  Briggs  dryly.  "  But  if  I  have  to  put  the  mat 
ter  in  the  hands  of  the  police,  as  I  've  made  up  my 
mind  to  do  if  my  cellar  ain't  let  alone,  I  can't  an 
swer  for  what '11  happen.  I've  put  up  with  their 
tricks  as  long  as  I  can." 

"  What  makes  you  think  that  Jack  is  stilt  con 
cerned  in  this  mischief  ?  "  asked  Mrs.  Hall.  "  I 
assure  you  that  I  have  told  him  repeatedly  that  he 
is  not  to  molest  you." 

"  It   does  n't    seem    to    make    much    difference, 


A   DAY   OF   RECKONING.  87 

ma'am,  then,  for  my  clerk  see  him  with  his  own 
eyes  shy  two  snow-balls  at  the  door  only  yesterday 
morning,  and  one  of  them  went  through.  Besides, 
he's  a  sort  of  leader  of  mischief  hereabouts.  He 
and  the  Perkins  boy  and  the  Honorable  Horatio 
French's  youngest  son  are  up  to  all  sorts  of  pranks, 
and  it's  hard  to  say  which  of  them  is  the  worst." 

Mrs.  Hall  sighed  and  looked  sad.  She  said  pres 
ently,  "  I  will  make  a  point  this  time  of  seeing 
that  Jack  avoids  your  premises,  Mr.  Briggs,  and  if 
you  will  send  in  a  bill  covering  whatever  he  has 
taken  from  your  store,  and  the  cost  of  a  new  wheel 
barrow,  I  will  pay  it." 

"  Thank  you,  ma'am  ;  I  should  never  think  of 
doing  that." 

"  I  insist,"  said  Mrs.  Hall  decidedly.  She  felt 
fairly  ready  to  cry  at  Jack's  depravity. 

"  Then  I  shall  consider  that  from  this  time  forth 
there  will  be  a  change,"  said  Mr.  Briggs,  rising. 
"  It's  the  last  time  I  shall  speak,"  he  added,  as  he 
stood  with  his  hat  in  both  his  hands,  evidently  feel 
ing  it  his  duty  to  be  explicit. 

"  Very  well,  Mr.  Briggs.  Let  me  say  that  at 
present  there  will  be  no  occasion  for  you  to  trouble 


88  JACK  HALL. 

yourself,  so  far  as  —  as  Jack  is  concerned,  for  he 
has  the  measles." 

"  I  'm  sorry  to  hear  it,  ma'am  ;  he  must  have 
been  took  sudden." 

"  This  morning." 

"Well,  I  hope  he'll  get  well  soon.  I  bear  no 
malice,  ma'am,  I  hope  you  '11  believe,  and  if  it 
were  n't  that  I  thought  him  a  smart,  likely  lad,  I 
should  have  spoken  to  the  police  long  since.  Good 
morning,  ma'am." 

"  Good  morning,  Mr.  Briggs.  Oh,  one  moment. 
The  last  coffee  you  sent  was  very  poor,"  she  said, 
unable  to  forego  this  opportunity  to  put  the  worthy 
grocer  a  little  in  the  wrong. 

"  Very  well,  ma'am  ;  I  will  take  it  back  and 
send  you  some  more." 

When  she  was  alone,  Mrs.  Hall  wiped  her  eyes, 
which  were  full  of  tears.  The  idea  of  Jack's  tak 
ing  what  did  not  belong  to  him !  Honesty  was 
honesty,  no  matter  whether  it  were  a  question  of 
dried  apples  or  of  diamonds,  and  the  boy  who  got 
into  the  habit  of  thinking  trifles  of  no  importance 
would  soon  degenerate.  Then,  too,  how  often  she 
had  warned  him  not  to  interfere  with  Mr.  Briggs ! 


A   DAY   OF   RECKONING.  89 

That  hole  in  the  area  door  had  been  a  constant 
source  of  trouble  ever  since  Jack  had  been  able  to 
fire  a  snow-ball.  What  with  catapults  and  bean 
blowers  in  addition,  which  were  the  engines  of  as 
sault  when  the  snow  was  gone,  poor  Mr.  Briggs 
had  ample  cause  to  complain.  It  was  evident  that 
he  had  been  goaded  to  a  point  where  he  would 
take  desperate  measures  unless  something  were 
done  to  restrain  effectually  his  tormentors. 

This  was  by  no  means  the  first  occasion,  as  Mr. 
Briggs  had  seen  fit  to  remind  her,  that  she  had 
been  called  to  account  for  Jack's  mischievous  be 
havior  ;  but  somehow  or  other  she  had  flattered 
herself  from  time  to  time  that  the  grocer  was 
crabbed  and  prone  to  fault-finding,  and  that  her 
son's  high  spirits  would  moderate  themselves  as 
he  learned  more  clearly  to  recognize  the  rights  of 
others.  But  of  late  it  had  seemed  to  her  that 
instead  of  improving,  Jack  was  growing  steadily 
worse.  Rumors  of  his  ill-doings  reached  her  ears 
from  various  sources,  and  even  Hannah  had  given 
her  to  understand  that  he  had  been  alluded  to  in 
neighboring  kitchens  as  little  inferior,  in  capacity 
for  wickedness,  to  a  fiend.  His  clothes,  alternately 


90  JACK  HALL. 

soaking  wet,  stiff  with  mud,  or  full  of  rents,  bore 
silent  but  eloquent  testimony  to  the  recklessness  of 
his  conduct.  She  felt  that  she  did  not,  of  course, 
mind  the  mere  rough  usage,  though  it  entailed  per 
petually  washing  and  mending ;  that  was  to  be 
expected,  perhaps,  of  an  active  boy ;  but  his  con 
stant  return  home  in  a  draggled  condition  made 
her  anxious  as  to  the  character  of  his  amusements. 
He  was  perpetually  in  the  company  of  Bill  French, 
whose  family,  though  rich,  were  new-comers  in  that 
part  of  the  city,  and  to  whose  society  she  would 
have  liked  to  see  him  less  devoted.  This  incident 
of  rattan-smoking  was  another  piece  of  testimony 
to  confirm  her  opinion  that  Bill  was  an  undesirable 
crony  for  Jack.  Dubsy  Perkins  and  Harry  Dale 
seemed  to  her  less  objectionable,  especially  Harry, 
who  was  a  quieter  and  more  thoughtful-looking 
boy  than  most  of  the  others  who  made  a  play 
ground  of  Mr.  Briggs'  corner.  As  for  Dubsy,  he 
imitated  Jack  in  everything,  applauding  all  he  did, 
and  trying  his  best  to  keep  up  with  or  even  sur 
pass  him  in  whatever  was  proposed. 

Little  by  little,  it  had  come  over  Mrs.  Hall  of 
late  that  the  best  thing  for  Jack  would  be  to  send 


A  DAY  OF   RECKONING.  91 

him  to  some  school  away  from  home.     The  grow 
ing  city  seemed   no  place  for  a  high-spirited  boy, 
for  whatever  he  did  was  pretty  sure  to  be  mischief 
or  against  the  law.     Time  was  when  the  Common 
had  been  an  ample   play-ground,  but  the  crews  of 
children  which  crowded  it  now,  to  the  annoyance 
and  even  peril  of  adult  persons,  had  induced  the 
municipal  authorities  to  consider  whether  the  popu 
lation  had  not  become  so  large  as  to  make  it  im 
perative  to  forbid  ball-playing  and  other  healthy 
sports  to  go  on   there.     One  strong  argument  in 
favor  of  the  proposed  restriction  was  that  the  play 
ground  was  usurped   by  youths  of  seventeen  and 
upwards,  large    and  powerful  as    men,  who  kept 
away  the  smaller  boys.     For  a  time  the  vacant  lots 
on  the  outskirts  of  the  city  had  become  favorite 
resorts,  but  these  were  rapidly  being  occupied  by 
houses.     Only  the  streets  were  left,  and  boys  who 
tried  to  play  there  were  involved  in   an  incessant 
warfare  with  the   police.      To  keep  Jack  indoors 
Avas  impossible,  and  she  reasoned  that  if  the  natu 
ral  outlets  for  youthful   energy  were  obstructed, 
others  of  an  unwholesome  kind  would  be  found  by 
him.     Nothing  disturbed  her  more  than  the  thought 


02  JACK   HALL. 

of  Jack  becoming  old  before  his  time,  one  of  the 
knowing  little  gentlemen  of  fifteen,  who  sauntered 
about  the  streets  in  standing  collars  and  kid  gloves 
with  an  eye  to  the  girls.  She  wished  to  see  Jack 
remain  an  unsophisticated  manly  boy  as  long  as 
possible,  and  she  feared  that  another  year  of  city 
life  might  bring  about  a  change  in  him  far  more 
to  be  deplored  than  any  amount  of  mischievous- 
ness. 

But  the  thought  of  parting  with  him  was  un 
bearable.  He  was  her  idol  and  the  delight  of  her 
existence.  At  present  he  was  under  her  eye,  at 
least  for  a  part  of  the  time,  and  could  not  go  very 
far  wrong  without  her  perceiving  it.  Would  it  be 
possible  to  find  a  school  in  the  country  where,  in 
addition  to  the  advantages  of  a  natural  boyish  de 
velopment,  Jack  would  find  also  the  watchful  care 
of  a  home  ?  There  were,  she  knew,  academies  — 
some  of  them  large  ones  —  to  which  certain  of  her 
friends  had  sent  their  boys,  but  she  had  derived  the 
impression  that  at  them  excellence  in  instruction 
was  the  chief  consideration,  and  that  the  masters 
were  not  expected  to  concern  themselves  with  the 
morals  of  the  pupils  —  many  of  whom  were  day- 


A   DAY   OF   RECKONING.  93 

scholars  who  lived  in  adjoining  towns  —  outside  of 
the  class-room,  unless  tiny  boy  became  conspicu 
ously  disreputable.  She  had  discussed  the  matter 
somewhat  with  her  adviser,  Mr.  Warren,  who 
agreed  with  her  that  Jack  would  be  better  off  away 
from  the  bricks  and  mortar,  and  who  promised  to 
make  inquiries  as  to  where  it  was  advisable  to  send 
him.  He  had  further  made  her  understand  that 
the  question  had  only  latterly  been  forced  upon  the 
attention  of  parents  by  the  growth  of  our  cities. 
Hitherto  there  had  been,  and  there  was  still  in  the 
smaller  places,  facilities  for  children  to  play  natu 
rally  and  yet  to  go  to  school  at  home.  Our  system 
of  free  education,  which  dated  from  noble  John 
Winthrop's  time,  had  properly  been  our  boast,  and 
we  had,  accordingly,  always  rather  regarded  it  as 
superior  to  the  English  system  of  large  public 
schools  away  from  the  cities,  without  perceiving 
that  it  might  not  always  suffice  for  our  needs. 
Home  training  was,  doubtless,  the  key  to  many 
virtues,  but  there  was  unquestionably  a  more  pre 
ponderating  danger  to  be  feared,  to  the  growth  of 
the  muscles,  and  to  the  action  of  the  liver,  lungs, 
and  heart,  and,  most  important  of  all,  to  the  charac- 


94  JACK   HALL. 

ter  itself,  in  the  cramped,  unwholesome  life  which 
a  boy  is  in  danger  of  leading  who  goes  to  school  in 
a  large  city. 

There  was  another  point  of  which  Mrs.  Hall  had 
thought  in  this  connection.  She  knew  that  her 
husband  had  been  very  anxious  that  his  son  should 
grow  up  an  American,  without  false  notions  of 
equality,  and  with  pride  and  faith  in  his  country. 
It  had  been  bis  intention  to  send  Jack  to  the  pub 
lic  schools  so  that  he  might  mix  early  with  all  sorts 
of  boys.  And  yet  she  could  remember  hearing  him 
remark  shortly  before  he  went  to  the  war,  that  it 
might  well  be  a  question  how  far,  to  insure  this, 
one  would  be  justified  in  subjecting  a  child  to  the 
companionship  of  rough  or  vicious  boys.  Since 
then  she  had  discussed  the  matter  with  Mr.  War 
ren  from  this  point  of  view.  She  was  far  from 
wealthy,  but  she  could  afford  to  pay  a  reasonable 
sum  for  Jack's  tuition.  Would  sending  him  to  a 
school  to  which  the  mass  of  boys  were  not  well 
enough  off  to  go  tend  to  foster  in  him  undemo 
cratic  notions  ?  As  her  adviser  explained  to  her,  it 
would  be  folly  to  assume  that  because  free  educa 
tion  was  open  to  all  for  the  sake  of  the  poor,  all 


A   DAY   OF   RECKONING.  95 

were  obliged  to  take  advantage  of  it  in  order  not  to 
be  regarded  as  aristocrats.  As  well  say  that  a  man 
was  no  lover  of  republicanism  because  he  livefl  in 
a  more  expensive  house  than  his  neighbor. 


CHAPTER   IV. 

JACK   GOES   TO   UTOPIA. 

MRS.  HALL'S  reflections  concerning  Jack  were 
interrupted  by  the  sound  of  the  door-bell.  A  mo 
ment  later  Hannah  ushered  in  a  no  less  formida 
ble  personage  than  Mr.  Bacon.  A  call  at  so  early 
an  hour  was  not  likely  to  be  merely  social  Mrs. 
Hall  well  knew,  and  she  began  to  ask  herself  what 
Jack  had  done  now,  as  her  visitor  made  some  ob 
servations  on  the  weather  before  proceeding  to 
explain  the  real  object  of  his  coming. 

Mr.  Bacon  was  ceremonious  in  his  general  deport 
ment,  especially  toward  ladies.  Indeed,  his  erect- 
ness,  spruceness,  and  general  starched  effect,  com 
bined  with  his  austerity  toward  the  boys  of  the 
neighborhood,  had  won  for  him  his  nickname. 
Mrs.  Hall  had  a  bowing  acquaintance  with  him, 
but  there  was  none  of  that  familiarity  between 
them  which  encourages  the  friendly  discussion  of  a 
serious  affair.  Mr.  Bacon  announced  in  well  chosen 


MR.  BACON   WAS  CEREMONIOUS   IN   HIS   GENERAL 
DEPORTMENT. 


JACK   GOES  TO  UTOPIA.  99 

language  that  his  patience  (like  Mr.  Briggs')  was 
exhausted.  He  had  been  badgered,  so  he  phrased  it, 
long  enough.  Only  the  night  before  a  party  of 
boys,  of  which,  presumably,  Master  Hall  was  one, 
for  the  reason  that  they  had  concealed  themselves 
in  Mrs.  Hall's  alley-way,  and  had  sought  shelter  in 
Mrs.  Hall's  house,  had  made  a  barrier  across  the 
street  with  a  piece  of  twine  fastened  to  his  door 
bell  at  such  a  height  as  to  imperil  the  eyesight,  to 
say  nothing  of  the  hats,  of  the  passers.  This  sort 
of  thing  could  not  go  on.  He  had  endured,  with 
forbearance,  having  his  windows  smashed  by  the 
careless  and  sometimes  deliberate  discharge  of  va 
rious  missiles,  having  his  doorsteps  dirtied  by 
muddy  feet,  his  wife's  pet  cat  tormented,  and  him 
self  insulted  by  offensive  epithets,  hoping  that  pa 
rental  authority  might  interfere.  But  it  seemed  to 
him  as  if  matters  were  getting  worse  every  day 
instead  of  better.  To  apply  to  the  police  to  protect 
him  and  his  household  against  his  neighbors'  chil 
dren  was  a  step  from  which  he  shrank,  yet  some 
thing  must  be  done.  For  some  reason  or  other  the 
boys  appeared  to  pitch  invariably  on  him  as  a  vic 
tim  on  whom  to  practice  their  pranks,  though  he 


100  JACK   HALL. 

was  not  conscious  of  having  deserved  their  hostility. 
>  Would  not  Mrs.  Hall  remonstrate  seriously  with 
her  son,  whom  he  had  reason  to  believe  to  be  more 
or  less  of  a  ringleader  among  them  ? 

Mrs.  Hall,  who  had  listened  with  pain  and  morti 
fication  to  this  account  of  Jack's  wrong  conduct, 
was  too  much  of  a  fond  mother  not  to  take  advan 
tage  of  Stiffy  Bacon's  reference  to  the  fact  that  he 
had  been  especially  selected  to  play  tricks  upon. 

"  Of  course,  Mr.  Bacon,  Jack  has  behaved  very 
badly,  and  you  must  not  think  for  a  moment  that 
I  wish  to  justify  his  actions,"  she  said;  "but  boys 
will  be  boys,  and  may  it  not  be  that  if  you  were  a 
little  better  disposed  toward  them  they  might  not 
be  so  troublesome?  Their  annoyance  of  you  is  in 
defensible,  I  know,  still,  as  you  yourself  say,  they 
seem  to  single  you  out  especially  to  play  tricks 
upon." 

Mr.  Bacon  colored  violently.  "I  don't  know 
what  you  mean,  Mrs.  Hall,"  he  answered.  "I 
pride  myself  that  my  treatment  of  the  boys  who 
congregate  in  this  street  has  been  most  considerate 
and  lenient.  The  fact  is,  madam,  I  am  afraid  you 
do  not  appreciate  what  nuisances  they  have  become. 


JACK  GOES  TO   UTOPIA.  101 

If  it  be  true  that  I  have  unwittingly  incurred  your 
son's  ill  will,  I  can  scarcely  be  held  responsible  for 
the  constant  vexation  they  occasion  the  worthy 
tradesman  opposite  by  their  mischievous  behavior; 
scarcely  a  day  passes  without  some  cause  for  com 
plaint  on  his  part." 

It  was  now  Mrs.  Hall's  turn  to  blush,  but  she 
answered,  a  little  warmly,  "•  I  think  that  Mr.  Briggs 
is  quite  able  to  fight  his  own  battles,  Mr.  Bacon. 
As  to  Jack,  I  shall  most  certainly  forbid  him  to  go 
upon  your  premises  in  future.  There  will  be  no 
chance  of  it  at  present,"  she  added,  rising,  "as  he 
has  the  measles." 

"Oh,"  said  Mr.  Bacon.  "Very  sorry  to  hear  it, 
I'm  sure.  It  is  not  a  serious  disease,  I  believe." 

"I  believe  not,"  she  answered  coldly,  and  so 
they  parted.  But  there  was  further  mortification 
in  store  for  Mrs.  Hall. 

Ten  minutes  later  Hannah,  in  an  awe-struck 
tone,  informed  her  that  there  was  a  policeman  in 
the  front  entry.  It  occurred  to  her  at  once  that 
Mr.  Briggs  had  repented  of  his  leniency  and  sought 
protection  from  the  law  without  waiting  for  another 
breach  of  it.  The  sight  of  the  tall  officer  in  the 


102  JACK   HALL. 

blue  coat  and  brass  buttons,  with  a  number  shining 
on  his  breast,  filled  her  with  dismay.  At  least  he 
would  have  to  wait  until  Jack  was  well  before  he 
carried  him  off  to  court. 

"The  captain  has  sent  me  to  say,  ma'am,  that 
this  breaking  of  lamps  must  coine  to  an  end. 
There's  been  sixteen  smashed  at  the  corner  here 
in  the  last  month,"  he  began. 

"  Do  you  mean  that  he  suspects  my  boy  of  being 
concerned  in  it?  "  asked  Mrs.  Hall,  as  he  seemed  to 
be  waiting  for  an  answer. 

"  Boys  did  it,  ma'am ;  or  rather  snow-balls  fired 
by  boys,  and  I  guess  what  your  son  don't  know 
about  it  ain't  worth  knowing,"  replied  the  officer 
confidently. 

"I  feel  sure  that  Jack  has  not  broken  any  for  — 
eh  —  a  week,"  she  faltered.  "  At  least  he  promised 
me  faithfully  that  he  would  not,  and  I  never  knew 
him  not  to  keep  his  word." 

"  Can't  pretend  to  say  who  did  it,"  he  said.  "If 
I'd  seen  it  done  while  I  was  on  the  beat,  there  'd 
been  an  end  to  it  mighty  quick ;  they  take  precious 
good  care  to  wait  until  I  'm  not  round.  All  I  'm 
saying  is,  some  one  did  it,  and  that  some  one  is 


JACK   GOES   TO   UTOPIA.  103 

boys ;  and,  what 's  more,  there  's  got  to  be  an  end 
of  it,  or  there  '11  be  trouble.  I  've  tried  to  be  easy 
with  them,  but  it 's  no  use ;  the  more  I  overlook 
the  saucier  they  get,  and  it 's  about  time  to  cry 
halt.  My  instructions,  ma'am,  are,  to  make  arrests, 
if  another  lamp  is  broken." 

"  But  you  can't  arrest  a  boy  if  he  is  innocent," 
exclaimed  Mrs.  Hall,  who  was  becoming  alarmed. 

"  I  guess  there  ain't  much  danger  of  my  making 
any.  serious  mistakes,"  said  the  officer,  with  a  grin. 
"  I  've  been  on  this  beat  for  the  last  four  years,  and 
I  know  pretty  well  by  this  time  who 's  innocent  and 
who  's  not." 

"  The  boys  all  appreciate  how  lenient  you  have 
been  with  them,"  she  said,  hoping,  perhaps,  to 
mollify  him  by  flattery.  "  They  quite  look  upon 
you  as  a  friend." 

"  Maybe  it  would  have  been  better  if  I  'd  been 
strict  with  them  from  the  first.  There  's  no  trust 
ing  them  ;  the  moment  my  back  's  turned  they  're 
making  faces  at  me  or  shouting  after  me,"  he  said, 
somewhat  bitterly,  evidently  reflecting  on  his  ex 
perience  of  the  previous  afternoon.  "  There  ain't 
much  gratitude  in  boys  if  you  come  to  reflect  upon 


104  JACK   HALL. 

it;  leastways,  I  ain't  found  much  so  far.  Well, 
ma'am,  I  bid  you  good  morning,"  he  added.  "A 
warning 's  a  warning,  and  that 's  all  there  is  about 
it." 

"If  there  are  any  lamps  broken  during  the  next 
fortnight,"  Mrs.  Hall  hastened  to  say,  as  the  officer 
turned  to  go,  "  it  won't  be  Jack's  fault,  for  he  has 
the  measles." 

"  Sbo  !  Has  he  though  ?  Want  to  know  ! "  he 
said  slowly,  by  way  of  comment,  pausing  between 
the  phrases.  "Well,  't ain't  as  bad  as  scarlet 
fever.  I  hate  to  see  boys  sick,  though.  Good 
day,  madam." 

That  afternoon  Mrs.  Hall  put  on  her  bonnet  and 
went  down  town  to  call  on  Mr.  Warren,  whom  she 
always  consulted  when  she  wished  advice.  She 
told  the  lawyer  briefly,  in  rather  a  despairing  tone, 
all  that  had  come  to  her  ears  during  the  morn 
ing,  and  ended  by  saying  that  if  a  good  school 
could  be  found  outside  the  city,  Jack  must  be  sent 
to  it,  even  if  her  heart  were  broken  as  a  conse 
quence.  Her  heart  was  certain  to  be  broken  if  he 
remained  at  home. 

Mr.  Warren  listened  to  her  patiently,  and  when 


JACK   GOES   TO  UTOPIA.  105 

she  had  finished  took  a  letter  from  his  desk  which 
he  handed  to  her. 

"  You  see  I  have  been  making  inquiries,"  he  ob 
served,  as  he  watched  her  read.  "  Schools  of  this 
sort  are  cropping  up  all  over  the  country.  You 
have  no  idea  how  many  there  are  until  you  begin  to 
investigate.  But  I  am  told  that  this  is  one  of  the 
best." 

"  Utopia-  School.  What  a  curious  name  !  "  said 
Mrs.  Hall,  musingly. 

"It  suggests  progress  and  hope.'' 

"  Decidedly.  But  I  don't  care  to  have  any  ex 
periments  tried  on  Jack." 

"Not  even  if  he  turns  out  a  fine  manly  fellow  as 
a  result  of  them  ?  "  asked  her  friend,  with  a  laugh. 
"  But  you  need  have  no  fear  that  there  is  anything 
unduly  visionary  in  the  curriculum  of  Dr.  Meredith, 
my  dear  Mrs.  Hall.  Those  who  know  him  best  say 
that  his  aim  is  merely  to  turn  out  his  pupils,  at  the 
end  of  their  course,  gentlemen  and  scholars." 

"  John  Meredith.  That  is  an  attractive  name  ; 
how  old  is  he  ?  " 

"  A  young  man,  but  then  remember  we  have  faith 
iu  young  men  in  this  country.  Between  thirty-five 


106  JACK   HALL. 

and  forty,  I  should  say.  By  the  way,  he  is  neither 
a  clergyman  nor  a  doctor;  his  Dr.  means  simply 
that  he  has  taken  the  University  degree  of  Ph.  D." 

"  The  school  was  founded  eight  years  ago,  I  see," 
she  said,  referring  to  a  prospectus  inclosed  in  the 
letter. 

"  Yes,"  he  answered ;  "it  started  with  twenty-five 
pupils  and  has  now  about  two  hundred,  who  rep 
resent  nearly  every  State  in  the  Union.  It  was 
founded  by  individual  enterprise  and  generosity  ; 
half  a  dozen  wealthy  men,  who,  very  likely,  were  as 
puzzled  what  to  do  with  their  sons  as  you  are  with 
Jack,  put  their  heads  together  at  the  suggestion  of 
this  young  Meredith,  who  felt  that  he  had  ideas  on 
the  subject,  and  subscribed  the  money  to  build  a 
tasteful  schoolhouse,  with  dormitories  for  the  boys, 
and  a  wing  for  the  master's  own  use,  all  under  a 
single  roof.  And  now,  not  ten  years  later,"  —  Mr. 
Warren  reached  out  his  hand  for  the  prospectus, 
which  he  perused  an  instant  to  refresh  his  memory, 
—  "  yes,  here  it  is,  now  there  are  three  new  dormi 
tories,  each  adapted  to  house  sixty  boys,  a  school- 
house  where  the  lessons  are  recited,  which  includes 
a  fine  library  as  well,  a  chapel,  and  a  gymnasium, 


JACK  GOES   TO   UTOPIA.  107 

all  forming  a  large  quadrangle.  Within  the  quad 
rangle  is  a  foot-ball  ground  and  a  base-ball  ground, 
and  around  the  foot-ball  ground  is  a  running  track. 
Outside  there  appear  to  be  lawn-tennis  courts,  and 
not  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  mile  away,  a  lake  a 
mile  and  a  half  long  and  a  quarter  of  a  mile  wide, 
on  the  banks  of  which  is  a  boat-house.  Add  to  this 
picturesque  country  surroundings,  good  food,  and  the 
personal  supervision  of  the  masters  over  the  morals 
and  health  of  each  boy,  —  you  will  notice  that  point 
insisted  upon,  —  and  it  seems  to  me  that  you  have 
a  paradise." 

"  I  could  go  and  see  him  occasionally  ?  " 

"  As  often  as  you  please,  I  imagine.  Five  or  six 
hours  in  the  train  would  bring  you  to  him  or  him  to 
you  at  any  time." 

"But  I  shall  miss  him  so  much,  Mr.  Warren.  In 
England  it  is  a  matter  of  course  to  send  boys  away 
from  home,  and  the  parents  don't  seem  to  mind  it; 
but  we  are  more  like  the  French,  we  cannot  bear 
to  be  separated  from  our  children." 

"  I  remember,"  replied  Mr.  Warren  reflectively, 
"  being  told  by  a  young  man  who  had  been  a  pupil 
at  one  of  the  large  English  public  schools,  —  Eton, 


108  JACK   HALL. 

or  Harrow,  or  Rugby,  I  forget  which,  —  that 
whereas  his  parents,  who  were  then  living  in  Lon 
don,  came  to  see  him  a  number  of  times  in  the 
course  of  the  year,  it  was  unusual  for  the  rest  of  the 
boys  to  receive  a  visit  from  a  relation  from  one  end 
of  a  term  to  another.  English  fathers  and  mothers 
like  to  affect  not  to  have  feelings,  on  the  theory 
that  the  display  of  emotion  and  affection  tends  to 
make  boys  unmanly.  They  would  consider  one 
who  wept  on  parting  with  his  mother  rather  a  milk 
sop,  I  imagine  ;  and  on  the  same  principle  they  con 
sider  it  better  discipline  to  keep  away  during  term 
time.  But  we  have  no  such  theory  as  yet,  Mrs. 
Hall." 

"  I  should  hope  not,"  she  replied.  "  I  should  feel 
very  badly  if  Jack  did  n't  shed  a  few  tears  on  part 
ing  with  me.  As  for  myself,  I  can't  say  what  I 
might  not  do  in  my  despair.  I  suppose  that  I  must 
bring  myself  to  it,  Mr.  Warren,"  she  added.  "  You 
feel  sure  that  Jack  will  be  well  looked  after?  He 
needs  personal  influence  ;  all  the  floggings  and  pun 
ishment  in  the  world  would  n't  do  him  any  good. 
What  he  requires  is  to  have  his  mind  awakened  to 
the  fact  that  there  are  more  important  matters  in 


JACK   GOES   TO   UTOPIA.  109 

life  than  snow-balling  and  coasting  and  base-ball, 
and  to  recognize  that  he  owes  something  to  others. 
At  present  he  seems  to  think  that  if  the  whim,  seizes 
him  he  is  justified  in  playing  the  most  disagreeable 
tricks  on  people,  even  to  the  extent  of  ignoring  the 
rights  of  property,  if  Mr.  Briggs  is  to  be  believed. 
While  remaining  the  manly,  earnest  boy  that  he  is 
in  many  ways,  I  wish  to  see  him  become  more 
thoughtful  and  considerate.  Do  you  think  Utopia 
School  will  produce  those  results  ?  " 

"  So  I  am  assured.  We  have  no  very  old  schools 
of  the  sort  in  this  country,  therefore  the  testimony 
must  needs  be  imperfect  as  to  their  value.  But,  as 
that  letter  informs  you,  Dr.  Meredith's  first  aim 
is  that  his  pupils  should  be,  at  graduation,  high- 
minded  youths." 

"  I  suppose  I  must  consent  to  it,"  murmured  Mrs. 
Hall  presently,  and  so  her  resolution  was  taken. 

Correspondence  was  at  once  opened  with  Dr. 
Meredith,  who  suggested  that  Jack  should  come  to 
him  after  the  Easter  recess,  as  there  happened  to 
be  a  vacancy  in  the  school.  Before  this  time  Jack 
had  recovered  from  his  illness,  though  he  looked 
somewhat  pale  and  thin.  His  mother  did  not  in- 


110  JACK  HALL. 

form  him  of  her  intention  to  send  him  away  from 
home  until  about  a  fortnight  before  he  was  to  go. 
Jack  manifested,  on  hearing  the  news,  unmitigated 
satisfaction,  but  as  the  day  drew  near  which  was  to 
separate  him  from  his  mother,  he  became  very  quiet 
and  unlike  his  usual  self.  He  sat  beside  her  in  the 
evenings,  his  shock  of  dark  hair  nestled  upon  her 
breast,  while  she  gave  him  counsel  as  to  what  he 
must  be  sure  to  do  and  not  to  do  when  he  no  longer 
had  her  to  watch  over  him.  She  made  him  promise 
to  study  well  and  to  obey  his  new  master,  and  he 
would  listen  in  thoughtful  silence  to  her  instruc 
tions  as  to  keeping  his  clothes  neat,  and  not  forget 
ting  to  say  his  prayers  morning  and  night,  and 
sometimes  to  read  his  little  Bible,  her  gift  on  his 
tenth  birthday.  "  And  whatever  you  do,  Jack,  re 
member,  always  speak  the  truth  and  never  do  any 
thing  mean." 

"  Yes,  mother." 

"Your  father  had  a  horror  of  falsehood  above 
everything  else  ;  he  used  to  say  that  he  had  no 
patience  with  a  lie.  Ah,  how  I  shall  miss  you,  my 
dear  little  man  !  You  will  not  forget  me,  will  you, 
Jack?" 


JACK  GOES  TO  trPOPIA.  Ill 

Forget  her !  Then  was  the  moment  for  him  to 
fling  his  arms  about  his  mother's  neck,  and  kissing 
her  again  and  again,  vo\v  that  he  would  be  mis 
erable  away  from  her,  and  that  he  would  far  rather 
stay  at  home, — which  whole-souled  protestations 
sounded  sweet  in  the  poor  widow's  ears,  and  helped 
to  ease  the  pang  of  parting. 

Both  she  and  Hannah  were  kept  very  busy  in 
getting  his  wardrobe  ready.  There  were  new  sets 
of  shirts  and  stockings  to  be  bought  and  marked, 
and  the  old  things  had  to  be  darned  and  generally 
put  in  order.  He  was  pleased  beyond  measure  by 
the  purchase  of  a  leather  trunk,  stamped  with  his 
initials,  to  carry  his  belongings,  which  were  numer 
ous,  and  would  have  filled  two  or  three  trunks  had 
he  been  permitted  to  carry  them  all.  It  was  diffi 
cult  for  Jack  to  decide  what  to  leave  behind  ;  every 
thing  was  dear  to  him,  from  his  discarded  rocking- 
liorss  with  its  moth-eaten  hide  to  his  latest  treasure, 
a  small  engine,  which  was  operated  by  steam,  and 
which  he  had  bought  by  saving  up  his  pocket- 
money.  His  room  was  full  of  toys :  there  were  tin 
soldiers  and  forts  in  the  defense  of  which  to  employ 
them,  a  splendid  tool-chest,  a  theatre,  a  magic- 


112  JACK   HALL. 

lantern,  and  an  assortment  of  marbles,  shuttlecocks, 
bats,  and  balls,  the  accumulations  of  his  childhood. 
He  persuaded  his  mother  to  let  him  take  the  en 
gine,  but  he  was  compelled  to  see  most  of  the  other 
things,  which  Hannah  stigmatized  as  truck,  put 
away  to  await  his  return.  An  exception  was  made 
in  favor  of  his  favorite  base-ball  bat,  which  he  was 
to  carry  in  his  hand,  a  few  tools,  the  shuttlecocks, 
and  his  bag  of  marbles,  all  of  which  would  take 
up  but  little  room,  and  which  would  be  useful  to 
him  at  Utopia. 

Outside  the  house,  the  news  of  his  proposed  de 
parture  had  aroused  great  interest  among  his  com 
panions,  who  one  and  all  expressed  their  envy  of 
what  they  considered  his  great  good-fortune.  Dubsy 
Perkins  was  inconsolable,  and  Bill  French  announced 
an  intention  of  persuading  his  father  to  let  him  fol 
low  Jack  in  the  autumn.  Even  Mr.  Briggs,  when 
Jack  for  the  fourth  time  in  three  days  went  into 
the  grocer's  store  to  be  weighed,  remarked,  with  a 
commendable  degree  of  warmth,  considering  their 
relations  toward  one  another,  "  I  hear  we  're  to 
lose  you  soon,  Master  Hall." 

"  Yes,  I  'm  going  to  boarding-school,  where  there 


JACK  GOES   TO   UTOPIA.  113 

are  two  hundred  boys,  next  week,"  replied  Jack 
proudly. 

"  I  want  to  know,"  responded  the  grocer,  and  he 
added  a  moment  later,  by  way  of  expressing  his 
interest  or  gratitude,  —  let  us  believe  it  was  the 
former,  —  "  Have  some  dried  apples  ?  " 

The  invitation  was  meant  to  include  the  group 
of  half  a  dozen  boys  in  the  store  at  the  time,  who 
accepted  it.  gladly,  but  with  some  wonderment. 
Since  the  visit  of  Mr.  Briggs  to  Mrs.  Hall  and  sev 
eral  of  the  other  parents,  the  behavior  of  his  tor 
mentors  had  shown  marked  improvement;  though 
they  still  meandered  about  and  through  his  premises 
on  the  smallest  pretext,  the  pilfering  had  mostly 
ceased,  and  the  snow-balls  found  in  his  bread-basket 
were  less  numerous.  As,  owing  to  his  mother's 
strenuous  exhortation,  Jack  had  restrained  his  fin 
gers  ever  since  from  the  barrel  containing  the  beans 
and  dried  apples,  and  the  box  of  figs,  the  permit 
dazed  him  for  a  moment ;  but  when  he  realized  that 
"Old  Briggs  "was  actually  "  standing  treat,"  his 
heart  felt  warm  toward  his  old  enemy,  and  some 
shame  for  his  own  cruel  treatment  of  him  was  min 
gled  with  his  reflections. 


114  JACK   HALL. 

Indeed,  Jack  had  also  the  satisfaction  of  parting 
with  Stiffy  Bacon  under  peculiarly  pleasant  cir 
cumstances.  That  gentleman's  irate  threats,  as  re 
peated  by  Jack  to  the  other  fellows,  had  produced 
such  a  feeling  of  alarm  that  none  of  them  had 
dared  to  venture  on  his  premises  ever  since.  On 
one  of  the  few  balmy  days  which  come  early  in 
April  to  herald  the  approach  of  spring,  the  boys, 
who  had  assembled  at  the  corner  to  enjoy  the  first 
game  of  scrub  of  the  season,  were  astonished  to 
see  Stiffy  Bacon  come  down  the  steps  of  his  house 
with  two  new  cricket  bats  and  a  set  of  wickets  in 
his  hands,  with  which  he  advanced  toward  them. 
The  boys  stopped  their  game  and  gazed  at  him  in 
bewilderment,  scarcely  believing  their  eyes  and 
half  inclined  to  run.  The  sight  of  a  Greek  bear 
ing  gifts  is  not  apt  to  be  assuring,  but  in  this  case 
there  was  no  cause  for  alarm.  Mr.  Bacon  stopped 
a  foot  or  two  away,  and  addressing  them  all,  but 
more  especially  Jack,  said  : 

"  Young  gentlemen,  I  am  very  much  obliged  to 
you  for  being  so  quiet  and  behaving  so  well  during 
my  wife's  illness,  and  I  ask  you  to  accept  this 
cricket  set  as  a  token  of  my  good  will."  Where- 


JACK  GOES   TO   UTOPIA.  115 

upon  he  held  out  the  bats  and  wickets  to  Jack, 
who  received  them  mechanically,  so  utterly  at  a 
loss  was  he  in  common  with  all  the  others  to  un 
derstand  what  Mr.  Bacon  was  driving  at.  The 
fact  was,  that  Mrs.  Bacon  had  presented  her  hus 
band  with  a  fine  baby  a  few  weeks  before ;  but  this 
interesting  circumstance  was  quite  unknown  to  the 
boys,  who,  accordingly,  were  feeling  very  shame 
faced  at  the  praise  bestowed  upon  them,  knowing 
that  they  had  been  quiet  for  quite  another  reason. 

The  donor  further  heaped  coals  of  fire  upon 
their  heads  by  producing  a  cricket  ball  and  the 
bails  for  the  wickets  from  his  pocket,  in  response 
to  which  there  came  a  feeble  murmur  of  "  Thank 
you,  sir,"  from  the  group,  who  stood  like  gawks, 
half  frightened  and  yet  very  much  pleased  withal. 
Jack,  who,  as  the  one  to  whom  Mr.  Bacon  had 
principally  addressed  his  speech,  felt  that  it  was  in 
cumbent  on  him  to  make  an  appropriate  acknowl 
edgment  of  the  gift,  stood  uneasily  shifting  his 
feet  and  trying  to  think  Avhat  to  say.  As  in  the 
case  of  Mr.  Briggs,  such  unexpectedly  friendly  con 
duct  had  produced  a  revulsion  of  feeling  toward  his 
former  enemy.  Just  as  Mr.  Bacon,  after  an  awk- 


116  JACK   HALL. 

ward  pause  on  both  sides,  was  turning  away,  Jack, 
seized  by  an  inspiration,  exclaimed,  "  Now,  fel 
lows,  three  cheers  for  Stif —  Mr.  Bacon  !  " 

They  were  given  with  a  will  and  a  tiger,  and  at 
the  sound  of  them  the  gentleman  in  question 
looked  back  evidently  much  gratified  and  lifted  his 
hat,  for  he  could  not  help  being  extremely  polite 
even  when  he  was  most  gracious. 

"  Thank  you,  very  much,  sir,"  several  boys  cried 
now  that  the  ice  was  broken,  and  Bill  French  was 
hypocrite  enough  to  add,  "I  hope  Mrs.  Bacon  is 
quite  well  again,"  which  nearly  caused  a  titter. 
Jack,  congratulating  himself  that  the  word  "  Stiffy  " 
had  been  repressed  in  time,  struck  up  the  song, 
"  For  he  's  a  jolly  good  fellow,"  which  was  contin 
ued  by  all  hands  until  Mr.  Bacon  was  in-doors 
again.  First  and  last  the  affair  was  a  most  auspi 
cious  one.  and  let  it  be  hoped  that  henceforward  a 
perpetual  truce  was  observed  between  the  boys  and 
the  Bacon  family. 

On  that  point  Jack  was  never  fully  informed, 
for  he  left  home  a  week  later  for  Utopia.  When 
the  day  actually  arrived  he  was  much  too  elated  to 
feel  any  severe  pangs  at  leaving  the  dear  old  street 


JACK   GOES   TO    UTOPIA.  117 

where  he  had  done  so  much  mischief  during  the 
past  four  or  five  years,  and  even  his  partings  with  his 
friends  were  so  jolly  that  nothing  but  the  delight 
ful  prospect  before  him  could  have  excused  such 
light-heartedness. 

Mrs.  Hall,  like  the  brave  woman  she  was,  had 
shed  her  tears  in  secret  or  was  saving  them  up 
until  she  should  be  left  alone,  for  her  face  was 
wreathed  in  smiles  as  she  clasped  her  darling  to 
her  bosom  for  one  last  hug  after  the  driver  an 
nounced  that  there  was  no  time  to  lose  if  he  wished 
to  catch  the  train.  Jack  was  in  an  exuberant 
state  of  mind,  for  in  addition  to  the  proud  con 
sciousness  that  he  was  to  travel  alone  for  the  first 
time  in  his  life,  he  had  been  allowed  a  full  cup  of 
coffee  for  breakfast,  which  was  a  great  treat  to  him. 
Beside  Hannah,  who  threw  her  apron  over  her 
head  every  minute  or  two  to  hide  her  eyes,  there 
were  Dubsy  Perkins  and  Bill  French  and  Harry 
Dale  in  the  hall  to  see  him  off,  and  each  had  brought 
a  parting  gift.  Bill  French's  was  a  knife  with 
eight  blades  including  a  gimlet,  a  cork-screw,  and 
other  useful  devices,  which,  as  Bill  explained  with 
pride,  cost  ten  dollars.  Beside  it  Dubsy 's  present 


118  JACK  HALL. 

looked  very  insignificant,  but  a  tip-cat  made  by 
Dubsy  was  regarded  in  the  neighborhood  as  a  work 
of  art  entitling  its  possessor  to  the  congratulations 
of  his  friends.  "  I  made  it  on  purpose  for  you, 
Jack,"  said  the  manufacturer,  with  a  look  of  genu 
ine  affection  on  his  honest  but  not  over-clean  face. 
Harry  Dale  had  brought  a  book  entitled  "  Every 
Boy  his  own  Carpenter,"  which  gave  directions 
how  to  make  everything  under  the  sun. 

Jack's  new  trunk  had  been  strapped  on  behind, 
and  all  was  ready.  After  that  last  hug  he  ran 
down  the  steps  crying  "  Good-by,  everybody,"  and 
got  into  the  carriage.  The  boys  thrust  their  hands 
through  the  open  window  for  a  final  shake,  and 
just  as  the  driver  had  said  "  Clk  !  "  to  the  horses, 
Hannah  came  rushing  out  with  some  cold  chicken 
and  a  turnover  done  up  in  a  napkin,  which  had 
almost  been  left  behind. 

But  at  last  he  is  really  off,  with  his  head  out  so 
as  to  wave  one  more  "  good-by "  to  his  mother, 
and  after  he  has  drawn  it  in  out  it  flies  again  on  the 
other  side,  for  in  turning  the  corner  he  perceives 
old  Briggs  in  his  white  apron  standing  on  the 
threshold  of  his  store  grinning  like  a  Cheshire  cat. 


JACK  GOES  TO  UTOPIA.  119 

"  Good-by,  Mr.  Briggs,  good-by!"  he  shouts, 
while  Hannah  murmurs,  "  God  bless  his  heart ; 
there  isn't  a  soul  in  the  street  who  won't  miss 
him,"  a  remark  in  which  the  worthy  henehwoman 
might  have  found  herself,  it  is  to  be  feared,  in  a 
minority,  if  the  vote  had  been  taken. 

Meantime,  Bill  and  Dubsy  and  Harry,  who  being 
each  armed  with  a  catapult  have  let  fly  simul 
taneously  some  tolerably  large  shot  at  the  little 
window  in  the  rear  of  the  carriage  as  it  rolls  off, 
one  of  which  just  misses  the  driver's  ear,  run  to 
the  corner  and  watch  until  the  carriage  reaches  the 
foot  of  the  street  and  turns  again,  being  rewarded 
by  a  final  wave  of  Jack's  arm  as  he  catches  a 
glimpse  of  them,  to  which  they  reply  with  a  pro 
longed  "  Elm — ehu. — elm."  Wafted  on  his  way 
by  which  familiar  war-whoop  of  his  childhood, 
Jack  Hall  takes  his  first  step  forward  in  the  battle 
of  life. 


CHAPTER  V. 

DR.    MEREDITH. 

UTOPIA  SCHOOL  takes  its  name  from  the  small 
town  adjoining,  to  reach  which  Jack  had  to  change 
cars  and  run  twenty  odd  miles  on  a  country  branch 
after  traveling  several  hours  on  the  main  line. 
But  time  passed  all  too  quickly  for  our  hero,  who 
never  wearied  of  looking  out  of  the  windows  at  the 
landscape  flying  away  behind,  in  the  intervals  of 
exhausting  the  resources  of  the  train  peddler,  a 
boy  of  about  his  own  age,  in  whose  stock  in  trade 
Jack  took  a  keen  and  very  soon  a  substantial  inter 
est.  He  let  the  books  tossed  on  the  seat  beside 
him  be  gathered  up  again  without  remonstrance, 
though  he  cast  sheep's-eyes  at  a  small  treatise  on 
base-ball  with  an  illuminated  cover  representing  a 
player  in  the  act  of  striking.  A  banana  and  a 
small  drum  of  figs  were  temptations,  however,  to 
which  he  succumbed,  and  just  as  he  was  finishing 
the  last  of  a  roll  of  lozenges  which  had  won  him 


DK.   MEREDITH.  121 

over  after  these  were  gone,  the  crowning  attraction 
of  the  day  appeared  in  the  form  of  prize  packages 
labeled  to  contain  any  number  of  useful  articles 
in  the  way  of  stationery  and  jewelry,  and  costing 
only  a  quarter.  But  their  more  potent  charm  lay 
in  the  further  inscription,  well  adapted  to  dazzle 
youthful  eyes,  —  "  One  package  in  every  hundred 
issued  contains  a  hundred-dollar  bill.  This  is  guar 
anteed  by-  the  company.  Try  your  luck." 

Jack's  reasoning  was,  that  the  quire  of  paper, 
pens,  pencil,  sealing-wax,  and  "  three  separate  ar 
ticles  of  jewelry,"  which  every  one  of  them  was 
warranted  to  include,  must  be  worth  far  more  than 
the  price  demanded.  So  in  any  event  his  money 
would  not  be  squandered,  and  there  was  no  telling 
—  for  he  was  pretty  lucky  as  a  rule,  having  on  one 
occasion  picked  up  a  cameo  pin  in  the  street,  and 
on  another  a  silver  coin  —  that  he  might  not  hap 
pen  on  a  package  which  had  a  hundred-dollar  bill 
in  it.  The  one  which  the  boy  had  left  on  the  seat 
looked  plump  and  satisfactory.  Jack  squeezed  it 
and  held  it  up  for  a  moment  to  the  light,  but  there 
was  nothing  gained  by  that.  When  the  boy  came 
back  lie  examined  the  dozen  others  in  the  basket 
critically. 


122  JACK   HALL. 

"  Did  you  ever  see  any  one  get  a  prize  ?  "  Jack 
asked,  when  he  had  completed  the  inspection. 

"  You  bet  your  life,"  responded  the  peddler.  *'  I 
see  a  young  feller  aboard  the  train  just  your  size 
find  one  of  them  hundred-dollar  bills  only  last 
week." 

"Swanny!"  said  Jack;  "I  wish  I  knew  which 
one  to  choose." 

"  You  pays  your  money  and  you  takes  your 
choice,"  answered  the  lad  impartially. 

"  Well,  I  '11  take  this  one,  I  guess,"  said  Jack, 
with  a  sigh,  at  last. 

The  one  chosen  was  down  at  the  bottom  of  the 
pile,  and  looked  a  trifle  bulkier  than  the  others, 
though  they  were  all  very  much  alike.  The  ped 
dler  had  evidently  little  curiosity  as  to  the  result  of 
the  selection,  for  he  continued  on  his  way  the  mo 
ment  after  pocketing  the  quarter,  rather  to  the  sur 
prise  of  the  purchaser.  Jack  proceeded  to  open 
the  envelope  with  eager  anticipation.  The  first 
thing  he  noticed  was  a  number  of  sheets  of  very 
common  ruled  note-paper,  beside  which  lay  a  lank 
pencil,  a  penholder  of  a  kind  which  can  be  dupli 
cated  for  a  cent,  three  pens,  a  half-dozen  colored 


DR.  MEREDITH.  123 

wafers,  a  miserable  bit  of  red  wax,  a  few  envelopes, 
a  ring  set  with,  a  small  green  glass  stone,  a  bangle 
of  thin  platinum,  and  a  brass  watch-chain.  These 
were  the  entire  contents.  Jack  peeped  between 
the  sheets  of  paper,  but  no  bank-bill  had  been  skill 
fully  concealed  there.  Ruefully  he  began  to  ex 
amine  the  collection  of  trash  which  he  had  acquired 
for  twenty-five  cents,  and  was  wondering  whether 
the  green  -stone  could  possibly  be  an  emerald,  and 
what  he  should  do  with  his  purchases,  when  the 
train  stopped  and  the  conductor  called  out  that 
passengers  for  Utopia  and  certain  other  places  must 
change  cars.  Jack  stuffed  the  contents  of  the  prize 
package  into  his  pockets  and  obeyed  orders. 

Five  minutes  before  Jack's  train  reached  the  sta 
tion,  a  train  from  the  opposite  direction  had  arrived 
with  passengers  from  the  West,  one  of  whom,  a 
bright-looking  lad,  was  already  seated  in  the  car  on 
the  branch  line  which  Jack  entered,  and  it  so  hap 
pened  that  when  the  conductor  cried  "All  aboard" 
the  two  boys  found  themselves  the  sole  occupiers  of 
it.  The  new-comer  was  neatly  dressed,  was  a  bit 
taller  than  Jack,  slim  and  wiry,  with  a  wide-awake 
expression. 


124  JACK  HALL. 

The  boys  exchanged  shy  glances,  and  Jack 
experienced  a  thrill  of  sympathy  in  observing  the 
torn  envelope  of  another  prize  package  lying  at 
the  stranger's  feet.  Presently,  with  the  restless 
ness  common  to  youth,  the  latter  got  up  and,  put 
ting  a  hand  on  the  arm  of  the  seat  on  either  side 
of  him,  started  to  propel  himself  along  the  aisle 
in  the  manner  of  an  athlete  on  parallel  bars,  with 
the  result  that,  after  a  spasmodic  jump  or  two, 
he  fell  in  a  heap  on  the  floor,  whereupon  he  arose, 
and,  brushing  the  knees  of  his  trousers,  looked  at 
Jack  and  laughed.  Then  he  proceeded  on  his 
way,  like  an  ordinary  mortal,  to  the  end  of  the 
car,  which,  being  the  last  in  the  train,  commanded 
an  absorbing  view  of  the  road-bed  over  which  they 
were  spinning  at  ever  so  many  miles  an  hour. 
Here  he  was  soon  joined  by  Jack,  and  the  pair 
stood  side  by  side  looking  at  the  long  line  of 
track,  until  the  other  boy  said  suddenly,  after  a 
more  than  common  oscillation  of  the  swaying  car, 
which  nearly  upset  them  both, —  "That's  nothing. 
You  ought  to  see  how  fast  they  go  on  the  New 
York  Central."  Then  he  added,  "  Going  to  Utopia 
School?" 


DR.  MEREDITH.  125 

"  Yes,"  said  Jack.     "  Are  you?  " 

The  boy  nodded.  "  My  name  's  Frank  Hasel- 
tine,"  he  said.  "  I  live  in  Cincinnati.  My  father  's 
in  Congress,  and  President  of  the  Haseltine  Iron 
and  Steel  Works.  I  hate  school,  but  father  says 
I'm  to  go  to  Utopia  for  six  years,  and  then  to 
college.  I  'd  rather  be  a  professional,  would  n't 
you?" 

"  A  professional  ?  I  don't  know  what  you  mean," 
said  Jack  doubtfully. 

"  A  base-ball  player,  of  course.  I  'd  like  to  be 
on  one  of  the  champion  nines.  Foxy  Ricketts, 
who  's  only  five  years  older  than  I,  is  to  be  change 
pitcher  for  the  Red  Stockings  this  season.  He 
used  to  be  captain  of  the  Rising  Suns.  That 's  the 
club  I  belong  to.  I  'm  only  third  base  in  the  second 
nine,  but  I  guess  I'd  have  played  catcher  next  year 
if  I  *d  stayed.  What  club  do  you  belong  to  ?  " 

"  The  Massasoits,"  said  Jack. 

"  Never  heard  of  them,"  answered  Haseltine  de 
cidedly.  "  What 's  your  name  ?  "  he  inquired. 

"  John  Hall.    Most  people  call  me  Jack,  though." 

"  Where  were  you  raised  ?  " 

Jack  looked  puzzled.     "  Do  you  mean  where  do 


126  JACK  HALL. 

I  come  from  ?  Boston."  As  he  felt  that  his  an 
swer  seemed  scant  in  view  of  Haseltine's  details, 
he  added,  "My  father  was  a  colonel,  and  was 
killed  in  the  war." 

"  Is  that  so  ?  I  've  an  uncle  who  's  a  general. 
He  was  wounded  in  the  war  but  got  well  again. 
If  I  can't  be  a  professional  when  I  grow  up,  I  'd 
rather  be  a  soldier  than  anything.  What  did  you 
play  on  the  Massasoits  ?  " 

"  Short  stop." 

"  That 's  a  first-rate  position,"  responded  Hasel- 
tine,  patronizingly. 

After  these  remarks,  the  boys  sat  down  side  by 
side  and  were  soon  deep  in  a  cordial  conversation, 
very  early  in  which  they  emptied  their  pockets  for 
the  benefit  of  one  another.  Jack's  new  knife,  all 
the  blades  of  which  he  opened  admiringly,  the  tip 
cat,  and  two  splendid  agate  marbles  were  matched 
by  Haseltine  with  a  fascinating  little  compass  in  a 
shiny,  round  metal  case,  a  silver-mounted  whistle 
in  the  shape  of  a  dog's  head,  and,  most  exciting  of 
all  to  Jack,  a  tiny  live  snake  in  a  wooden  box, 
which  crawled  and  wriggled  about  its  owner's  hand 
in  a  most  approved  fashion. 


DR.  MEREDITH.  127 

"He's  real  tame,"  observed  Haseltine.  "I've 
had  it  six  months.  He  lives  on  flies,  and  I 
would  n't  lose  him  for  anything  ;  would  I,  Bill  ?  " 
he  added,  caressing  the  small  reptile. 

Jack  was  silent  a  moment.  Then  he  asked, 
"  What  '11  you  take  for  the  snake  ?  " 

"  What  '11  you  give  ?  " 

"  I  '11  swap  one  of  my  agates  for  him." 

"  Not  much.     Will  you  give  me  the  knife  ?  " 

"  I  guess  not.     That  knife  cost  a  lot  of  money." 

"  It 's  mighty  difficult  to  get  a  snake  tame  as 
Bill." 

"  Will  you  take  both  the  agates  ?  "  asked  Jack 
presently. 

"  Let 's  see  them,"  said  Haseltine.  He  examined 
the  marbles  critically.  "  What  else  '11  yon  give  ?  " 

"  I  '11  throw  in  a  blood  alley." 

"  Let 's  see  the  blood  alley."  After  inspection 
he  inquired,  "  What  else  you  got  ?  " 

"  Is  n't  that  enough  ?  I  'm  willing  to  let  you 
have  this,  too,"  Jack  said  at  last,  indicating  the 
watch-chain.  They  had  already  compared  experi 
ences  on  the  subject  of  prize  packages.  Needless 
to  say,  Haseltine  had  been  no  more  fortunate  in 


128  JACK  HALL. 

finding  a  hundred-dollar  bill  in  his,  but  though  they 
had  come  to  the  conclusion  that  the  jewelry  was 
not  quite  up  to  the  mark,  there  was  sufficient  un 
certainty  regarding  its  value  to  make  the  ownership 
of  it  seem  not  wholly  undesirable. 

Haseltine  weighed  the  chain  pensively.  "  See 
here,"  he  said,  "  if  you  '11  give  me  the  two  agates, 
the  blood  alley,  the  chain,  and  the  ring,  you  may 
have  Bill.  Is  it  a  go?" 

Jack  hesitated  ;  he  felt  that  he  was  asked  to 
pay  a  high  price,  but  a  glance  at  Bill,  who  in  re 
sponse  to  his  master's  effort  to  show  him  off  was 
wriggling  delightfully,  settled  the  question  in  his 
mind.  "  Give  me  the  snake,"  he  said,  handing 
over  the  specified  articles  in  exchange.  Jack  re 
turned  the  little  creature  to  his  box  and  deposited 
it  in  one  of  his  trousers'  pockets  with  the  air  of  a 
proprietor. 

Just  then  the  train  stopped  at  a  station,  and  the 
boys,  owing  to  the  great  uproar  which  was  going 
on  outside,  popped  out  their  heads.  The  platform 
of  the  station  was  crowded  with  young  fellows  of 
all  ages  and  sizes,  some  of  them  nearly  grown 
up.  About  half  of  them  were  in  uniform,  part 


DR.  MEREDITH.  129 

of  whom  wore  drab  flannel  shirts  trimmed  with 
blue  and  embroidered  in  the  middle  of  the  breast 
with  a  large  blue  U?  drab  knickerbockers,  and 
blue  stockings;  the  others,  armless  white  shirts 
adorned  with  a  flaming  constellation,  red  belts,  and 
nondescript  trousers,  which  showed  clearly  to  the 
boys  that  they  were  in  the  presence  of  two  rival 
base-ball  clubs  and  their  respective  constituents. 

"I  wonder  which  licked,"  said  Haseltine  ex 
citedly,  and  under  a  common  impulse  he  and  Jack 
started  for  the  rear  door. 

But  here  their  progress  is  blocked,  for  the  boys 
with  the  U  on  their  breasts  and  their  friends  are 
by  this  time  clambering  up  the  steps  and  beginning 
to  swarm  into  the  car.  There  is  a  great  hubbub 
and  shouting  and  shaking  of  hands  between  the 
rival  factions,  which  is  followed  by  a  sudden  hush, 
for  the  captain  of  the  home  nine  —  a  strapping- 
looking  country  lad  who  reminds  Jack  of  Joe  Her 
ring —  has  got  his  men  in  a  bunch  together  and 
now  cries,  "  Three  cheers  for  the  Utopias,  boys ! 
Now,  one  — 

"Hurrah!" 

"Two"- 


130  JACK  HALL. 

"Hurrah!" 

"  Three  "  — 

"  Hurrah  !  "  And  then  at  the  close  came  a  de 
licious  "  tiger-r-r,"  in  which  the  entire  juvenile  pop 
ulation  of  the  town  joined. 

"  The  Utopias  must  have  won,"  whispers  Hasel- 
tine. 

"  Why  ?  "  asks  Jack,  who  is  really  beside  him 
self  with  excitement. 

"  Because  the  others  cheered  first." 

As  the  reverberation  of  the  tiger  dies  away  a 
handsome,  bronzed,  athletic-appearing  boy,  with  a 
little  down  on  his  upper  lip,  and  who  seems  to  Jack 
a  man,  steps  to  the  edge  of  the  platform,  and  swing 
ing  his  cap  above  his  head,  exclaims  in  a  dignified 
tone,  but  with  great  enthusiasm,  "Now,  fellows, 
nine  rousing  cheers  for  the  Foxbridge  Stars,  —  and 
any  time  they  will  come  to  Utopia  we  will  give 
them  their  revenge." 

"'Rah,  rah,  rah,  rah,  rah,  rah,  rah,  rah,  rah!  — 
Utopia-a-a-a !  "  rings  out  on  the  air  in  short,  sharp 
response. 

"Time's  up,  gentlemen,"  cries  the  genial  con 
ductor,  who  stands  watch  in  hand.  "All  aboard ! " 


DR.  MEREDITH.  131 

He  waves  his  hand  to  the  engineer,  the  engine 
gives  a  snort  and  a  whistle,  and  amid  a  great  shout 
ing  and  waving  of  hats  and  bats  and  handkerchiefs 
the  train  moves  slowly  away  from  the  station,  the 
Stars  and  their  satellites  following  it  on  its  way 
for  two  hundred  yards  or  so,  leaping  like  grey 
hounds,  until  fairly  distanced. 

Jack,  who  has  had  the  satisfaction  of  interpret 
ing  to  Haseltine  the  cheers  of  the  victorious  nine 
as  an  imitation  of  the  Harvard  University  method, 
watches  eagerly  the  body  of  Utopia  boys  as  they 
pour  into  the  car  and  take  possession  of  the  seats. 
They  are  in  tearing  spirits  over  their  success,  and 
for  some  time  talk  of  nothing  but  the  details  of 
the  game,  recollecting  with  enthusiasm  the  fine 
points  of  play,  —  Bedlow's  pitching,  Goldthwaite's 
one-handed  catch  at  second  base,  and,  most  glorious 
of  all,  Ramsay's  home  run,  which  won  the  game 
when  the  score  was  tied.  Ramsay  is  captain,  the 
manly -looking  fellow  who  proposed  the  cheers 
for  the  Stars,  and  Jack  feels,  as  he  watches  him 
leaning  back  against  the  seat,  with  his  hands  rest 
ing  on  the  handle  of  his  bat,  and  accepting  mod 
estly  but  with  a  smile  of  permissible  pride  the 


132  JACK   HALL. 

congratulations  showered  upon  him,  that  he  wou'd 
give  anything  to  be  in  his  shoes. 

The  boys  are  of  all  sizes,  for  at  least  fifty,  big 
and  little,  have  come  down  from  the  school  to  back 
up  the  nine,  and  even  to  the  smallest  they  are 
decked  with  blue  ribbons,  stamped  "Utopia"  in 
silver  letters.  No  one  pays  attention  to  Jack  and 
Haseltine,  who  are  sitting  side  by  side  at  the  end 
of  the  car  with  their  ears  open. 

"Won't  the  Doctor  be  pleased!"  exclaimed  one 
of  the  players,  breaking  a  momentary  pause  in  the 
rejoicing. 

"What  a  pity  he  did  n't  come!  "  said  another. 

To  this  there  was  a  general  assent,  after  which 
some  one  cried,  "  Give  us  a  song.  Jumbo." 

"A  song!  A  song!"  repeated  several  jubilantly, 
and  then  as  the  boy  called  upon  did  not  immedi 
ately  respond,  there  was  a  universal  call,  "Jumbo, 
Jumbo !  Hit  her  up,  Jumbo  !  " 

Jack  and  Haseltine,  following  the  direction  of  all 
eyes,  perceived  an  especially  fat  boy  in  the  middle 
of  the  car,  who  was  just  beginning  the  words  of  a 
taking  song,  which  was  very  spirited.  After  eacli 
verse  there  came  a  ringing  chorus,  in  which  all 
joined  ecstatically :  — 


DR.  MEREDITH.  133 

"Stop  that  knocking;  let  me  in; 
Stop  that  knocking ;  let  me  in  ; 
Oh,  I  tell  you  stop  that  knocking  at  my  door." 

This  was  always  repeated,  and  every  time  they 
sang  it  the  swell  of  the  voices  grew  louder  and  the 
enthusiasm  greater,  until,  what  with  the  hammer 
ing  on  the  floor  with  bats  to  express  the  knocking, 
together  with  the  increasing  tendency  to  sacrifice 
harmony  to  sound,  it  seemed  as  though  the  roof  of 
the  car  would  come  off.  It  was  a  thorough  pande 
monium  ;  and  Jack  thought  the  occasional  transpo 
sition  of  the  first  phrase  of  the  chorus  into  "knock 
that  stopping"  one  of  the  funniest  things  he  had 
ever  listened  to. 

When  Jumbo  finished,  Goldthwaite  the  second 
base,  who  had  made  the  one-handed  catch,  sang  in 
a  rich  tenor  voice,  "Aunt  Dinah's  Quilting  Party," 
which  had  a  sentimental  refrain  about  seeing  Nelly 
home  by  starlight,  and  made  Jack  feel  pensive, 
though  he  preferred  the  humorous  song.  Every 
body  sang  the  chorus  with  a  great  deal  of  senti 
ment,  especially  Ramsay,  who  sighed  perceptibly 
when  Goldthwaite  pictured  Nelly's  hand  as  resting 
on  her  lover's  arm  "  light  as  oc  an's  fcam." 


134  JACK   HALL. 

Presently  there  were  cries  for  "  Jack  Spratt  and 
his  Wife,"  presumably  a  ditty,  but  who  turned  out 
to  be  two  inseparable  friends  thus  nicknamed  be 
cause  one  was  very  stout  and  the  other  unusually 
•slim.  The  pair  contributed  an  amusing  double-part 
song,  which  set  everybody  into  peals  of  laughter, 
and  restored  the  spirit  of  hubbub  subdued  by  pass 
ing  thoughts  of  Nelly.  Just  as  the  last  verse  came 
to  an  end,  the  train  began  to  slow  up,  and  amid 
shouts  of  "Here  .we  are,"  every  one  started  to  his 
feet  and  made  for  the  door. 

"Utopia!"  cried  the  conductor  vociferously. 

"  As  if  we  did  n't  know  that,  Henry,"  responded 
the  foremost  as  they  rushed  out. 

Jack  and  Haseltiue  brought  up  the  rear,  and 
found  themselves  on  alighting  face  to  face  with  a 
ponderous,  hearty,  red-faced  man  carrying  a  whip, 
whose  face  was  one  broad  grin  as  he  listened  to  the 
joyful  tidings  of  the  victory  from  a  dozen  lips  at 
the  same  moment. 

"  And  won't  the  Doctor  be  tickled  to  death !  " 
Jack  heard  him  exclaim  with  a  chuckle.  "  Mr. 
Percy  's  yonder,"  he  continued,  indicating  with  his 
thumb  a  barge  drawn  by  two  horses,  into  which 


DR.  MEREDITH.  135 

the  majority  of  the  boys  were  already  precipitating 
themselves.  "  He  could  n't  wait  to  hear  who  'd 
won.  And  so  you  beat  'em,  did  you  ?  Well, 
well !  " 

At  the  mention  of  Mr.  Percy's  name  there  had 
been  a  further  diversion  to  the  barge,  and  only 
three  or  four  still  remained,  pouring  a  few  last 
details  into  the  ears  of  the  man  with  the  whip,  who 
now  asked,.  "  Has  any  one  of  you  laid  eyes  on  the 
two  new  boys  I  've  come  to  fetch  ?  " 

"  Your  kids  are  all  serene,  Horace ;  I  saw  them 
aboard  the  train,"  said  a  boy  in  answer. 

"  Master  Hall,  —  Master  Haseltine  ?  "  inquired 
Horace,  stepping  forward  as  he  caught  sight  of 
Jack  and  his  friend. 

"All  right,"  said  Jack;  "I'm  Hall." 

"  And  I  'm  Haseltine." 

"  Checks,  please,"  said  Horace.  Then  pointing 
to  a  vehicle  half-wagon,  half-carryall,  a  few  yards 
beyond,  he  told  the  two  boys  to  get  in  while  he 
looked  after  their  baggage. 

Before  they  had  well  seated  themselves,  the 
barge,  filled  almost  to  overflowing  with  its  noisy 
freight,  started  off  at  a  goodly  pace  to  the  accom- 


136  JACK  HALL. 

paniment  of  fish-horns  and  fiendish  cat-calls.  As 
it  swept  by  the  smaller  conveyance  a  shower  of 
beans  fell  rattling  about  the  ears  of  tlie  new-comers, 
which  caused  Jack  instinctively  to  clap  his  hand  on 
the  side-pocket  of  his  jacket  in  search  of  his  cata 
pult;  but  before  he  could  get  at  it  the  grinning 
faces  of  his  assailants  were  out  of  range. 

*'  By  gum  I  "  Jack  muttered  belligerently. 

"  It 's  no  use,  any  way,"  said  Haseltine.  "  If 
you  had  hit  them,  it  would  have  been  all  the  worse 
for  both  of  us  afterwards.  I  expect  to  be  half 
killed  as  it  is." 

"  What  do  you  mean  ?  "  asked  Jack. 

"  They  '11  haze  us,  of  course.  I  know  a  fellow 
who  was  made  to  jump  into  the  river  on  a  Christ 
mas  eve,  and  who,  as  the  result  of  it,  had  pneu 
monia  and  nearly  died." 

"  At  Utopia  ?  " 

"No,  it  wasn't  at  this  school;  but  they're  all 
alike.  They  make  you  stand  on  a  table  and  recite 
poetry,  and  do  all  sorts  of  monkey  tricks." 

"  I  would  n't." 

"You  couldn't  help  yourself;  they 'd  stick  pins 
into  you  if  you  refused,  or  burn  you  with  a  red-hot 
iron." 


DR.   MEREDITH.  137 

"  They  should  kill  me  before  I  'd  do  a  thing," 
said  Jack  stoutly,  but,  nevertheless,  he  continued 
contemplative  until  their  conductor  arrived  with 
the  trunks.  A  moment  later  they  were  off. 

"That's  great,"  Ho: ace  observed  with  gusto, 
after  a  period  of  reflective  silence. 

"  What  is  ?"  inquired  Haseltine. 

"  The  ball  game.  Them  Stars  has  been  all-fired 
cocky  since  way  back,  and  boasting  as  how  they 
could  n't  be  beat.  But  they  're  done  for  this  time, 
sure.  Fourteen  to  thirteen  —  tidy  score,  too  ;  that 
home-run  was  what  done  it.  Great  boy,  that  Harry 
Ramsay." 

"  He  's  captain,  is  n't  he  ?  "  asked  Jack. 

"  Yes,  captain  of  the  nine,  and  cute  all  round. 
I  tell  you,  the  Doctor  's  proud  of  him,  and  '11  be 
mighty  sorry  when  he  goes  to  Harvard  next  year. 
He  is  smart  at  his  books,  too." 

"  Tell  us  about  some  of  the  other  players,"  said 
Haseltine. 

"  Well,  they  're  all  pretty  stout.  Bedlow  's  a  rat 
tling  good  pitcher,  and  when  he 's  in  shape  it  takes 
an  A  1  player  to  get  base  hits  off  him,  I  can  tell 
you.  Goldthwaite  's  good,  too,  at  second  base,  and 


188  JACK   HALL. 

Bobby  Crosby  at  left  field,  though  he  goes  in  more 
for  foot-ball.  He  '11  be  captain  of  the  eleven,  fast 
enough,  when  Burbank  goes.  He  's  a  great  hand 
at  kicking  goals.  There  ain't  a  better  nor  a 
smarter  set  of  boys  in  the  country  than  the  boys 
of  Utopia  School,  take  'em  all  together,"  continued 
Horace,  giving  a  flick  with  his  whip  to  -emphasize 
his  words  ;  "  and  as  for  the  Doctor,  there  ain't  his 
equal  anywhere  that  ever  I  see.  He  's  a  gentle 
man,  if  there  is  one,  and  a  scholar  too,  for  the 
matter  of  that.  What  he  don't  know  ain't  worth 

i 

knowing,  I  guess." 

"  What 's  your  name  ?  "  asked  Haseltine  boldly. 

"  Horace  Hosmer.  The  boys,  leastwise  those 
who  've  been  here  any  time,  call  me  Horace.  I  've 
done  the  driving  for  the  school  since  it  was  first 
started,  and  that 's  a  matter  of  close  on  ten  years, 
now." 

"  Much  hazing  ? "  inquired  Jack  presently,  in 
what  he  intended  to  be  an  indifferent  tone. 

Horace  glanced  sideways  at  his  questioner  before 
replying.  "Fair  to  middling,"  he  said  gravely. 
"  Two  boys  died  from  it  last  term  ;  Doctor  called  it 
chicken-pox ;  but  I  know  better,"  he  added,  with  an 


DR.  MEREDITH. 


139 


ominous  nod.  "  I  see  them  after  they  were  laid 
out,  and  they  were  a  mass  of  bruises  from  the 
crown  of  the  head  to  the  soles  of  the  feet." 

Haseltine  nudged 
Jack,  who,  it  must  be 
confessed,  felt  uncom 
fortable,  and  who  ex 
claimed,  after  a  moment, 
"  I  should-  n't  think  Dr. 
Meredith  would  allow 
it." 


"  Well,  he  does  try  to  stop  it,  but  some  of  them 
fourth -class  boys  are  dreadful  hard  to  manage. 
There  's  Jack  Spratt  and  his  Wife,  for  instance,  — 


140  JACK   HALL. 

I  tell  you  they  'd  as  soon  break  every  bone  in  a 
new  boy's  body  as  not,"  continued  Horace  confi 
dentially. 

"  They  were  the  two  who  sang  last,"  observed 
Jack,  gloomily,  to  Haseltine. 

"  There  's  nothing  really  vicious  about  'em,  — 
they're  just  playful,"  Horace  went  on  to  say. 
"  But  singing  or  no  singing,  if  I  were  a  new  boy  T 
shouldn't  want  to  have  'em  down  on  me.  It's 
hard  to  say  which  is  the  worst,  Spratt  or  his 
Wife." 

"What  are  their  real  names?"  Jack  inquired. 

"  Tobey  and  Donaldson ;  but  no  one  ever  calls 
'em  anything  but  Jack  Spratt  and  Wifey ;  that 's 
because  they  're  so  thick  together.  Most  of  the 
boys  have  nicknames  of  some  sort,  though  there  ain't 
much  sense  in  'em  if  you  come  to  think  it  over. 
There  's  the  Spider  and  the  Lamb,  and  the  Tit 
mouse  and  the  Shark,  and  ever  so  many  more.  But 
you  '11  know  all  about  it  soon,  for  here  we  are,"  said 
their  mentor,  as  the  pair  of  horses  turned  sharply. 

They  were  borne  swiftly  through  a  gateway  and 
along  a  smooth,  graveled  avenue,  under  a  vista  of 
fine  trees  which  had  evidently  once  formed  the 


DR.   MEREDITH.  141 

approach  to  a  private  residence.  On  either  side  an 
expanse  of  level  field  stretched  away,  which  was 
dotted  with  boys  busy  at  play,  of  whom  Jack  got  a 
few  glimpses  as  Horace,  nodding  to  right  and  left,  ex 
claimed,  "Lawn-tennis  courts, — base-ball  practice 
ground ; "  though  a  bell  pealing  from  beyond  had 
mostly  caused  a  cessation  of  the  games,  and  the 
boys  in  the  field  on  the  right-hand  side  had  begun 
to  throng  into  the  avenue,  or  to  cross  it  into  the 
other  field. 

"  It 's  supper-time,"  Horace  vouchsafes  to  inform 
his  charges,  who  are  craning  their  necks  in  absorbed 
inspection  of  the  score  of  young  fellows  in  white 
flannels,  with  tennis  rackets  in  their  hands,  advanc 
ing  at  an  easy  jog  in  detachments  of  two  and  three, 
in  response  to  the  reverberating  summons.  It  is 
shorter  for  those  who  have  been  practicing  scrub  in 
the  left-hand  field  to  keep  straight  on,  for  the  ave 
nue  winds  to  the  left  along  the  top  of  that  field, 
until  it  reaches  another  arched  gateway  situated 
midway  between  two  spacious  dormitories  which 
form  one  side  of  a  large  quadrangle.  There  is  a 
solid  stream  of  boys  passing  through  this  gateway 
on  the  way  to  their  rooms  to  tidy  up  for  supper, 


142  JACK   HALL. 

which  will  be  ready  in  fifteen  minutes  in  the  old 
schoolhouse,  —  the  original  structure  built  by  the 
founders,  —  which  faces  Jack  as  he  is  driven  into 
the  quadrangle  and  finds  himself  squarely  within 
school  bounds. 

On  his  right  stands  the  tasteful  chapel,  from  the 
tower  of  which  the  ten-minute  bell  is  still  ringing, 
and  just  beyond  it  the  gymnasium.  Facing  these, 
at  the  other  end  of  the  broad  campus,  is  the  build 
ing  devoted  to  schoolrooms,  and  still  another  dor 
mitory,  all  exactly  as  the  prospectus,  which  Jack 
had  read  many  times,  described.  Both  the  exten 
sive  playgrounds,  the  one  laid  out  for  base-ball  and 
the  other  for  foot-ball,  lie  deserted;  for  every  one 
within  the  quadrangle  has  hastened  to  welcome  the 
victorious  nine  on  the  arrival  of  the  barge,  about 
which  a  cheering  throng  is  now  collected  in  front 
of  the  old  schoolhouse. 

"  There  's  the  Doctor  on  the  steps  shaking  hands 
with  'em,"  exclaimed  Horace.  "  I  tell  you  he  's 
proud  to-night.  Look  at  that  now ;  it 's  Ramsay 
they  've  got." 

A  cheer  that  does  one's  heart  good  had  preceded 
Horace's  last  words,  occasioned  evidently  by  some 


DR.  MEREDITH.  143 

compliment  which  Dr.  Meredith  had  paid  the  mod 
est  captain,  and  thereupon  a  score  of  hands  have 
seiaed  Ramsay  and  lifted  him  on  to  a  phalanx  of 
shoulders.  "  'Rah,  rah,  rah,  rah,  rah,  rah,  rah,  rah, 
rah  !  —  Utopia-a-a-a !  " 

Off  they  go  tearing  like  mad,  bearing  their  laugh 
ing,  struggling  burden,  who  is  plainly  protesting 
against  so  extravagant  a  tribute  to  his  prowess, 
to  the  ball  ground  and  round  the  bases  in  fine 
style,  closely  followed  by  another  throng  doing  sim 
ilar  honors  to  Bedlow  and  Goldthwaite,  picked  up 
together  and  transported  side  by  side,  each  with  an 
arm  round  the  other's  neck. 

Horace  has  reined  in  his  horses  in  order  to  give 
a  satisfactory  view  of  the  ovation,  which  is  so  de 
monstrative  and  engrossing  that  the  ten  minutes' 
grace  before  supper  would  more  than  have  slipped 
away  had  not  Dr.  Meredith  and  two  or  three  of  the 
masters  interfered  in  time  to  send  every  one  off  to 
his  room  just  before  the  second  bell  rings. 

It  is  pealing  with  a  will  when  Jack  and  Haseltine 
alight  and  stand  hesitating  on  the  steps  of  Granger 
Hall,  —  which  is  the  name  of  the  old  schoolhouse, 
—  uncertain  for  a  moment  what  to  do.  The  en- 


144  JACK   HALL. 

trance,  in  front  of  which  Horace  has  drawn  up  his 
horses,  is  on  the  hither  side  of  that  where  the  Doc 
tor  was  congratulating  the  nine  a  few  minutes  ago, 
and  leads  into  the  domain  of  Betty  Martin,  as  the 
housekeeper  is  called,  who  has  charge  of  the  domes 
tic  management  of  the  whole  institution,  with  head 
quarters  at  Granger.  This  is  her  wing,  flanked  by 
the  great  dining-hall  where  the  whole  school  break 
fasts  and  dines  and  sups  together.  The  other  wing 
is  devoted  to  the  Doctor's  private  apartments.  A 
few  boys  still  live  in  the  old  schoolhouse,  —  which 
not  so  very  long  ago  was  dormitory,  refectory,  and 
class-room  combined  in  one,  —  but  the  mass  have 
been  relegated  to  the  three  new,  roomy  dormitories, 
known,  respectively,  as  Rogers,  Fullham,  and  Dud 
ley,  after  the  benefactors  who  gave  the  money  to 
build  them. 

It  is  Mrs.  Betty  Martin  herself  who  appears, 
smiling,  on  the  threshold  to  relieve  the  uncertainty 
of  the  two  boys.  She  is  portly  and  motherly  in 
appearance,  and  wins  Jack's  heart  at  once  by  sug 
gesting  supper  in  the  housekeeper's  room,  and  a 
postponement  of  an  introduction  to  the  Doctor 
until  later.  They  feel  a  little  weary  with  their 


DR.   MEREDITH.  145 

long  journey  and  relish  the  fresh  milk,  the  honest 
bread  and  butter,  and  the  slice  of  cold  beef  to 
which  they  sit  down,  immediately  after  they  have 
dipped  their  faces  in  a  basin  of  water  under  her 
maternal  supervision.  Meanwhile  the  whole  school 
lias  passed  into  the  main  hall,  and  after  a  short 
silence,  —  which  Jack  learns  by  and  by  marks  the 
blessing  asked  on  the  meal  by  the  Doctor,  who 
always  eats  with  the  school,  —  there  begins  a  dis 
tant  clattering  and  chattering  which  is  pleasant 
music  in  the  ears  of  the  two  new  boys  as  they  sip 
the  hot  chocolate  which  Mrs.  Betty  has  made  to 
warm  them.  This  goes  on  for  nearly  half  an  hour ; 
then  follows  a  momentary  creaking  and  scraping  of 
chairs  and  shuffling  of  boots  that  makes  one  think 
a  menagerie  has  got  loose,  after  which  there  is  a 
rush  for  the  door,  which  is  midway  between  the 
Doctor's  and  Mrs.  Betty's  entrance,  and  the  school 
comes  trooping  out  again. 

"  Scrub  one" 

"Two" 

"Three" 

"  Four  " 

"  Five  " 


146  JACK   HALL. 

"Six" 

"  Seven  " 

Twice  that  number  of  applicants  are  disporting 
themselves  in  the  direction  of  the  ball  ground, 
which,  though  reserved  at  other  hours  for  the  work 
of  one  of  the  regular  nines,  is  free  after  supper  to 
the  first  comers.  There  is  room  on  its  ample  sur 
face  for  several  games  of  scrub,  and  as  the  tide  of 
would-be  players  increases,  the  adjacent  foot-ball 
ground  is  usurped  by  some  who  prefer  knock  up, 
two  or  three  big  fellows  sending  up  sky  scrapers 
for  the  benefit  of  the  many  scattered  over  the  field. 
A  few  pass  ball,  and,  though  it  is  not  the  season 
for  foot-ball,  there  are  always  boys  so  fond  of  it  as 
to  like  to  keep  their  hands,  or  more  properly  their 
feet,  in  at  all  times  of  the  year.  A  half  dozen  of 
these  practice  kicking  goals  over  the  two  bars 
which  mark  either  end  of  the  foot-ball  field.  Al 
though  so  soon  after  supper,  a  couple  of  boys,  who 
look  as  if  they  were  cut  out  for  rumiers,  appear  in 
tights  and  start  around  the  running  track  on  time. 
On  the  terraces  in  front  of  the  various  halls,  a 
number  more  leisurely  inclined  indulge  in  ring- 
taw  and  various  other  games  of  marbles,  which 


DE.   MEREDITH.  147 

make  Jack  think  of  his  agates  and  wonder  if  Has- 
eltine  has  not,  in  their  possession,  the  best  of  the 
bargain. 

All  this  is  visible  from  Mrs.  Betty's  threshold, 
where  the  two  boys  establish  themselves  after  sup 
per  while  waiting  for  the  Doctor  to  send  for  them. 
Now  and  then  small  urchins  —  favorites  of  Mrs. 
Betty  —  slip  past  them  in  search  of  a  cooky,  or  a 
taste  of  jam,  relying  on  the  good-nature  of  the 
buxom  housekeeper,  which  is  not  altogether  to  be 
counted  on,  however,  for  if  for  any  reason  the  pe 
titioner  does  not  happen  to  suit  her  he  gets  sent 
about  his  business  in  a  most  summary  manner  and 
has  to  slink  out  again  empty-handed.  It  is  a  lovely 
evening  with  a  promise  of  summer  in  the  atmos 
phere,  so  enticing  that  the  Doctor's  wife  is  giving 
her  baby  an  airing  prior  to  putting  him  in  his 
crib,  while  her  other  child,  a  pretty  girl  of  five,  is 
skipping  about  before  their  door  like  a  young 
gazelle.  Close  at  hand  stands  the  Doctor,  watching 
contentedly  the  sports  which  nightfall  must  soon 
bring  to  a  close,  smoking  his  cigar,  and  chatting 
to  some  of  the  masters  and  boys.  When  a  more 
than  usually  good  bit  of  play  on  the  ball  field 


148  JACK   HALL. 

takes  his  eye,  he  claps  vigorously  and  cries, 
"  Played,  Longworth,"  "  Well  played  indeed,  Hen- 
shaw,"  with  genuine  enthusiasm ;  and  once  when 
the  ball  is  knocked  so  vigorously  that  it  runs  out 
of  bounds  and  along  the  terrace  up  to  the  Doctor's 
very  feet,  he  picks  it  up  and  sends  it  back  again 
in  a  style  that  reveals  abundance  of  muscle  and 
a  physique  second  to  none  which  any  one  of  those 
whose  master,  guide,  and  friend  he  is  can  boast. 

It  seems  to  Jack,  whose  ideas  of  masters  are  not 
rosy,  so  to  speak,  wonderful  that  the  boys  and  Dr. 
Meredith  are  on  such  evidently  familiar  terms,  sug 
gesting  an  absence  of  awe  on  one  side  and  the  ex 
istence  of  an  almost  fatherly  interest  on  the  other. 
To  joke  with  the  teacher  of  one's  Latin  lessons 
would  have  struck-  him  an  hour  ago  as  akin  to  mer 
riment  in  church,  or  at  a  funeral ;  and  yet  right 
before  his  eyes  is  a  state  of  things  which  startles 
his  preconceived  notions  most  effectually  and  makes 
him  rub  his  eyes,  especially  when  the  head  of  the 
school  so  far  abates  his  dignity  as  to  pass  ball  with 
a  wren  of  a  boy  no  bigger  than  Jack  himself.  Al 
beit  a  great  weight  is  removed  from  his  heart,  he 
looks  on  puzzled  and  bewildered,  half  expecting  to 


DR.   MEREDITH.  149 

hear  at  any  moment  the  thundering  tone  of  au 
thority  assert  itself  and  prove  what  he  sees  to  be 
only  a  deceitful  lull  in  the  conventional  relations 
between  masters  and  pupils. 

But  the  only  voice  of  authority  which  makes  it 
self  heard,  scattering  masters  and  pupils  alike,  is 
the  bell  in  the  chapel  tower,  that  breaks  in  pres 
ently  on  the  scene,  but  scarcely  too  soon,  for  the 
twilight  is  at  hand.  It  is  time  to  go  to  the  school 
rooms  for  an  hour  before  the  day's  work  is  over. 
Thither  the  boys  flock,  and  a  few  moments  later 
Jack  and  Haseltine  are  informed  that  the  Doctor 
is  ready  to  see  them  in  his  study. 

Jack's  heart  is  sinking  as  he  walks  along  the 
corridor,  but  he  keeps  before  his  mind's  eye  the 
picture  which  he  has  just  seen,  in  refutation  of  his 
fears.  He  knocks  timidly,  and  in  response  to  a 
cheery  "  Come  in "  enters.  It  is  a  spacious  yet 
cosy  room,  a  veritable  study  with  books  lining  the 
walls  and  scattered  over  the  centre  table,  but  bright 
too  with  photographs  on  the  mantelpiece,  below 
which  a  wood  fire  is  sputtering  and  snapping  gaily 
on  the  hearth,  and  pictures,  busts,  and  bric-a-brac 
betokening  that  a  woman's  taste  has  helped  to  deco 
rate  it. 


150  JACK  HALL. 

- 

"  This  must  be  Hall ;  am  I  light  ?  How  d'y  do, 
Hall?  How  d'y  do,  Haseltine?  Glad  to  see  you 
both."  So  exclaims  the  Doctor,  rising  to  greet  the 
two  timid  youths,  speaking  so  pleasantly,  and  giv 
ing  them  each  so  hearty  a  grip  of  the  hand,  that 
they  are  kindled  in  spite  of  themselves  and  lift 
their  gaze  to  his. 

How  shall  I  describe  the  head  master  of  Utopia 
School  ?  A  man  in  the  prime  of  life,  not  quite 
forty,  tall,  stalwart,  and  commanding,  with  a  sunny 
smile  but  firm  mouth,  piercing  eyes  before  which  a 
sneak  or  liar  might  well  quail,  yet  in  which  the 
sincere,  manly  boy,  the  forlorn  or  puzzled  boy,  or 
even  the  mischievous,  disobedient  boy  who  owns 
his  fault,  might  find  the  sympathy,  encouragement, 
or  mercy  which  he  needs.  One  sees  at  a  glance, 
which  requires  no  discrimination,  that  there  is 
nothing  small  or  petty  about  him,  nothing  of  the 
pedant,  the  martinet,  or  the  ceremonious  prig.  It 
is,  perhaps,  beyond  the  imagination  of  boys  so  full 
of  misgivings  as  Jack  and  Haseltine,  to  appreciate 
all  this  at  once,  but  their  awe  gives  way  to  surprise 
and  their  tongues  are  gradually  loosened  under  the 
influence  of  his  reassuring  words  of  inquiry  in  re- 


DE.   MEREDITH.  151 

gard  to  their  journey,  their  families,  and  their  past 
lives,  in  the  course  of  which  his  wife  comes  in  and 
perfects  the  welcome  by  her  sweet  voice.  Hasel- 
tine  is  the  first  to  thaw,  amusing  them  all  by  his 
quaint  frankness,  which  includes  a  confession  of 
Jack's  and  his  experiences  in  the  line  of  prize 
packages,  at  the  mention  of  which  the  Doctor  looks 
a  trifle  grave,  but  forbears  for  the  present  to  utter 
a  deprecating  word,  deeming,  without  doubt,  that 
to  check  the  boy  in  his  first  confidences  might  work 
far  worse  results  than  could  possibly  follow  from 
the  failure  on  his  own  part  to  point  a  moral.  Ha- 
seltine  goes  on  to  tell  of  their  barter  and  exhibits 
triumphantly  the  two  agates,  with  the  exclama 
tion,  "  Which  of  us,  do  you  think,  got  the  best  of 
the  swap,  Dr.  Meredith  ?  " 

This  frankness  amuses  them  all ;  and  the  Doctor 
asks  Jack  to  let  them  see  the  snake,  which  he  pro 
duces  shyly.  The  little  reptile  vindicates  —  at  least 
in  his  owner's  eyes  —  the  wisdom  of  the  trade 
by  a  fine  display  of  his  wriggling  powers ;  after 
which  (the  Doctor  having  chosen  to  abstain  from 
any  expression  of  opinion  as  to  whether  he  would 
rather  be  in  Jack's  shoes  or  Haseltine's)  the  con- 


152  JACK   HALL. 

versation  goes  on  easily  for  a  few  minutes.  The 
Doctor's  wife,  who  regards  Jack  very  kindly,  per 
haps  because  he  seems  less  at  ease  than  his  more 
forward  companion,  questions  him  about  his  home 
and  his  mother,  and  makes  him  promise  that  if  he 
feels  lonely  he  will  come  to  her  and  let  her  know  ; 
all  of  which  is  so  contrary  to  what  Jack  had  ex 
pected  that  he  could  almost  cry  with  pleasure.  As 
for  Haseltine,  his  relief  is  so  great  that  he  prattles 
on  like  a  mill-stream,  to  the  evident  entertainment 
of  his  listeners,  relating  naively  his  impressions  of 
his  long  journey  from  the  West,  and  his  views  of 
life  in  general,  including  his  intention  to  adopt  base 
ball  as  a  profession  when  he  grows  up ;  an  an 
nouncement  which  causes  Mrs.  Meredith  to  put  her 
handkerchief  to  her  mouth  to  avoid  laughing  out 
right.  But  it  is  no  laughing  matter  to  Haseltine, 
who  believes  every  word  he  is  saying,  and  who  pro 
ceeds  to  describe  with  enthusiasm  the  exploits  of 
the  Rising  Suns,  and  the  standing  of  the  various 
players  composing  that  formidable  nine. 

"  Base-ball  is  a  fine  game,  and  I  don't  wish  to 
speak  a  word  against  it,"  says  the  Doctor,  when  he 
sees  a  fair  chance  to  get  in  a  word.  "  I  dare  say 


DR.  MEREDITH.  155 

that  you  will  be  a  great  acquisition  to  our  nine, 
in  course  of  time,  Haseltine,  and  you  too,  Hall, 
though  you  tell  me  that  your  specialty  is  foot 
ball.  That 's  a  fine  game,  too.  You  boys  will  have 
plenty  of  chance  to  consider  the  matter  during 
the  next  six  years,  but  I  rather  think  that  you 
will  come  to  the  conclusion,  before  you  leave  us, 
Haseltine,  that  you  would  prefer  to  be  in  Con 
gress,  or  the.  manager  of  a  railroad,  or  a  merchant, 
or  a  lawyer,  than  a  professional  base-ball  player." 

There  was  a  pleasant  twinkle  in  the  Doctor's  eye 
as  he  paused,  but  though  Jack  felt  that  his  mas 
ter's  prophecy  might,  perhaps,  come  true,  Hasel 
tine  shook  his  head  doubtfully. 

"  Both  you  little  fellows  are  tired  with  so  much 
travel,  I  know,"  the  Doctor  went  on,  a  shade  more 
seriously,  "  and  I  am  going  to  send  you  off  to  bed 
without  much  good  advice.  I  shall  take  it  for 
granted  that  both  of  you  are  good  boys,  and  anx 
ious  to  obey  the  rules.  You  '11  be  told  what  they 
are  to-morrow,  when  I  decide  upon  the  classes  you 
are  to  belong  to.  And  now,  before  you  go,  I  desire 
to  say  just  two  things:  the  first  of  which  is,  that  I 
wish  to  impress  upon  you  at  the  start  to  avoid 


156  JACK   HALL. 

falsehood  and  deceit.  There  are  times  when  most 
boys  are  tempted  to  lie ;  when  those  times  come, 
be  brave  and  speak  the  truth,  for,  believe  me,  there 
is  no  vice  more  cowardly  and  degrading  to  the  char 
acter  than  any  form  of  falsehood.  It  is  mean, 
contemptible,  and  unworthy  of  men.  The  prin 
ciple  of  this  school  is  self-government ;  my  desire 
is,  as  far  as  possible,  to  let  the  scholars  govern  them 
selves  ;  I  trust  to  their  honor  largely,  and  I  look  to 
see  that  trust  respected." 

Jack  is  listening  with  all  his  ears  ;  the  room 
seems  very  still,  and  the  Doctor's  wife  is  looking 
gravely  at  the  carpet. 

"  The  other  is  this," — the  Doctor  glanced  espe 
cially  at  Haseltine,  though  what  he  is  about  to 
say  is  every  whit  as  applicable  to  Jack's  needs,  if 
he  did  but  know  it,  —  "I  believe  enthusiastically 
in  all  manly  sports,  and  do  my  best  to  encourage  a 
taste  for  them  in  the  school ;  but  let  me  remind  you 
that  what  you  have  been  sent  here  for  is  not  to  be 
come  good  cricketers,  oarsmen,  foot-ball  kickers,  or 
even"  —  here  he  smiled  kindly —  "base-ball  play- 
ers.  To  desire  to  be  proficient  in  any  or  all  of  these 
games  is  a  laudable  ambition,  but  I  pity  heartily 


DR.  MEREDITH.  157 

the  boy  who,  during  his  stay  here,  thinks  of  noth 
ing  else ;  and  I  grieve  to  say  there  are  a  few  who 
do.  Sport  is  an  incident,  not  an  aim  of  life,  even 
of  a  boy's  life.  You  have  been  sent  here  to  learn 
to  become  high-minded,  upright  gentlemen,  with 
lofty  aims  and  sterling  good  sense  in  the  first 
place  ;  in  the  second,  —  and  without  this  the  first 
can  never  be  completely  realized, —  to  acquire  a 
good  education  by  means  of  faithful  study.  Intel 
ligent  scholarship  is  the  promoter  of  many  virtues 
and  the  key  to  success  in  after-life.  Do  you  under 
stand  me,  boys  ? "  he  asks,  at  the  conclusion  of 
these  impressively  spoken  words. 

"  Yes,  sir,"  the  two  lads  murmur,  in  faint  suc 
cession. 

"  Then  I  will  hand  you  over  to  Mrs.  Martin,  who 
will  show  you  to  your  dormitories,"  he  says,  touch 
ing  the  bell.  "  Hall  and  Haseltine,  I  hope  you  will 
each  regard  me  as  one  of  your  warmest  friends,  and 
never  hesitate  to  ask  my  advice  or  assistance,  if  at 
any  time  you  are  in  need  of  either." 

"  Nor  mine,"  adds  his  wife,  drawing  Jack  to  her 
and  kissing  him  on  the  cheek,  which  cheers  him 
mightily. 


158  JACK   HALL. 

"  You  must  be  good  friends  together,  too,"  con 
tinues  the  Doctor,  looking  from  one  to  the  other. 
"  Far  East  and  far  West !  Remember  we  are  all 
one  nation,  and  that  no  part  of  it  can  get  on  without 
another." 

While,  as  a  consequence  of  this  recommendation, 
the  two  boys  are  exchanging  smiles,  which,  though 
somewhat  sheepish,  express  cordial  good-will,  Mrs. 
Betty  arrives,  under  whose  guidance  they  take  their 
departure,  after  Mrs.  Meredith  has  impartially  be 
stowed  a  kiss  on  Haseltine  also,  and  the  Doctor  has 
shaken  them  both  by  the  hand  in  his  hearty  fashion. 
They  pass  out  of  the  old  schoolhouse  across  the 
quadrangle  to  Fullham  Hall,  where  Mrs.  Betty  tells 
them  they  are  to  be  lodged.  A  short  climb  up 
stairs  and  a  turn  or  two  through  a  corridor  brings 
them  to  a  spacious  apartment  running  half  the 
length  of  the  building,  with  rows  on  either  side 
from  one  end  to  the  other  of  what  seem  to  Jack, 
at  first  glance,  like  stalls  in  a  stable.  The  parti 
tions  dividing  these  stalls  —  which  a  second  glance 
proves  to  be  sleeping-rooms  large  enough  to  contain 
a  bed,  a  bureau,  and  a  row  of  nails  for  clothing  — 
rise  but  ten  or  a  dozen  feet.  The  ceiling  is  far 


DR.   MEKED1TH.  159 

above ;  two  lines  of  windows  let  in  abundance  of 
light,  and  one  has  only  to  breathe  the  cool  air  to 
feel  sure  that  care  has  been  taken  to  make  the 
ventilation  all  it  should  be.  At  the  end  which 
they  enter  is  the  comfortable-looking  study  of  one 
of  the  masters,  into  which  they  get  a  peep  as  the 
housekeeper  calls  him  to  his  door  to  introduce  her 
charges  to  him.  They  are  to  be  quartered  nearly 
opposite  to  one  another  on  different  sides  of  the  dor 
mitory.  Their  trunks  have  already  been  brought 
up  and  placed  at  the  foot  of  their  beds,  which  have 
a  neat  and  comfortable  appearance.  There  would 
be  just  room  inside  to  swing  a  cat,  if  one  should  so 
feel  inclined,  and  it  is  easy  to  see  that  there  can  be 
no  difficulty  in  producing  the  effect  of  great  cosi 
ness  by  an  artistic  arrangement  of  photographs  and 
knick-knacks.  Jack  looks  into  several  of  the  little 
rooms  and  is  charmed  at  the  taste  and  cleverness 
displayed  in  this  respect. 

It  is  not  quite  bedtime,  but  a  few  of  the  little 
boys,  tired  out  doubtless  by  the  excitement  of  the 
match,  are  already  tucked  up  for  the  night,  or, 
partly  undressed,  are  flitting  between  the  dormi 
tory  and  the  wash-room,  into  which  Jack  and  Has- 


160  JACK  HALL. 

eltine  are  next  ushered  to  be  shown  the  excellent 
bathing  arrangements.  Each  pupil  has  his  sepa 
rate  set-bowl  and  soap  and  towels,  and  there  is  a 
liberal  number  of  bath-rooms,  in  some  of  which  a 
fine  splashing  is  going  on.  At  the  doors  of  two  of 
these,  Mr.  Sawyer,  the  dormitory  master,  who  has, 
perhaps,  made  the  arrival  of  the  new-comers  an  ex 
cuse  for  an  unlooked-for  tour  of  inspection,  knocks 
sharply,  exclaiming,  "  Time 's  up,  Rogers.  Been  in 
that  tub  long  enough,  Dickson  ;  "  in  response  to 
which,  two  watery  faces  peep  out  in  respectful  ex 
postulation. 

But  now  the  chapel  bell  rings  again,  this  time 
for  prayers,  to  be  followed  by  a  dismissal  of  all 
but  the  oldest  boys  to  slumber.  Mr.  Sawyer  has 
to  go,  but  Mrs.  Betty  remains  to  see  Jack  and 
Haseldne  snugly  established  in  bed,  where  Jack  is 
very  happy  to  be,  partly  because  he  is  very  tired, 
and  partly  because  the  hints  on  the  subject  of  Jack 
Spratt  and  his  Wife,  thrown  out  by  Horace  Hos- 
mer,  have  filled  his  mind  with  grim  forebodings. 
He  reflects  that  if  he  can  conceal  himself  from 
public  view,  he  may  yet  be  spared  from  torture 
for  another  twenty-four  hours,  and  makes  haste 
accordingly. 


DR.  MEREDITH.  161 

Mrs.  Betty  has  taken  her  departure  only  just 
before  the  boys  who  share  this  dormitory  come 
trooping  in,  making  a  din  which  puts  sleep,  for  the 
moment,  quite  out  of  Jack's  head.  It  seems  that 
fifteen  minutes  are  allowed  to  undress,  after  which 
the  lights  are  put  out,  all  talking  is  forbidden,  and 
any  one  caught  in  another's  room  is  liable  to  pun 
ishment.  The  master  at  one  end,  and  one  of  the 
prefects  —  who  are  certain  of  the  older  boys  clothed 
with  a  share  of  authority  —  at  the  other,  keep  a 
lookout  for  whispering  or  unlawful  expeditions. 
By  degrees  the  tumult  dies  away,  but  before  it  has 
wholly  come  to  an  end  both  Jack  and  Haseltine 
have  ceased  to  notice  it.  The  assurance,  in  answer 
to  an  inquiry  hazarded  by  Haseltine  at  the  last  mo 
ment  of  Mrs.  Betty,  who  must  have  wondered  at 
the  question,  that  Jack  Spratt  and  his  Wife  sleep 
in  another  dormitory,  has  done  much  to  tranquilize 
them.  Though  each  listens  intently  in  trepidation 
for  some  minutes,  weariness  gets  the  better  alike  of 
fear  and  curiosity  so  soon,  that  Mr.  Sawyer,  who 
draws  aside  their  curtains  to  see  that  they  are  all 
right  before  the  watchman  on  his  rounds  puts  out 
the  light,  is  satisfied  that  they  are  fast  asleep. 
And  so  they  are. 


CHAPTER   VI. 

FIRST    IMPRESSIONS. 

How  many  of  the  fathers  of  the  boys  who  are 
reading  this  story  look  back  on  their  school  days 
with  any  great  degree  of  satisfaction  as  concerns 
the  time  spent  in  the  schoolroom  ?  Not  a  large 
number,  it  is  safe  to  assert,  if  the  truth  were 
known.  You  young  fellows  do  not  appreciate  your 
advantages,  or,  at  least,  you  have  small  comprehen 
sion  of  what  lessons  and  masters  were  like  twenty 
and  thirty  years  ago.  Not  that  we  were  badly 
treated,  in  one  sense.  Even  then  floggings  were  in 
tolerable  disrepute ;  the  birch  was  practically  dis 
carded,  and  if  the  ferule  was  employed  with  some 
frequency  in  extreme  cases,  its  popularity  as  an 
educator  was  on  the  wane.  Our  teachers,  though 
rarely  genial,  intended  to  be  just,  and  though  strict 
were  not  harsh.  Stiffness  and  constraint  were  still 
deemed  essential  to  secure  decorum,  but  the  czar- 
like  despotism  which  made  the  pedagogues  of  for 
mer  generations  terrible  had  passed  away. 


FIRST   IMPRESSIONS.  163 

On  the  other  hand,  we  were  one  and  all  mere 
machines  for  the  acquisition  of  so  much  Latin, 
Greek,  and  mathematics ;  machines,  of  which  some 
ran  faster  than  others  and  with  a  certain  show  of 
brilliancy,  but  the  best  of  which  did  their  work  in 
the  mechanical,  unintelligent  way  that  machines 
invariably  do.  Most  education  then  was  a  grand 
system  of  memorizing,  of  getting  by  rote  whole 
pages  of  Latin  grammar,  and  other  subjects,  so  as 
to  be  able  to  spin  them  off  as  fast  as  the  tongue 
could  move  without  hesitation  or  mistake.  If  you 
made  either,  and  were  ambitious,  it  meant  disaster, 
for  there  was  always  some  slick-haired,  pale-faced 
lad  on  the  watch  to  pick  you  up  anywhere  and 
put  you  down  a  peg  in  the  class  as  a  consequence. 
What  feats  of  marvelous  mechanism  in  this  line 
were  daily  performed  with  the  dry  bones  of  "  An 
drews  &  Stoddard's  "  and  "  Baird's  Classical  Man 
ual  "  !  Ask  your  father,  any  one  of  you,  if  he  can 
repeat  that  memory-confounding  list  of  adjectives 
which  have  no  superlatives.  There  are  twenty-eight 
of  them,  beginning  with  "adolescens  adolescentior 
young,  agrestis  agrestior  rustic."  If  he  cannot, 
there  was  a  time  when  he  could,  and  when  —  at 


164  JACK  HALL. 

least  if  he  were  what  was  called  in  those  days  a 
good  scholar  —  he  could  rattle  off,  besides,  the 
twenty-six  prepositions  governing  the  accusative 
and  the  nouns  of  the  third  declension  with  either 
e  or  i  in  the  ablative,  not  forgetting  at  the  same 
time  that  "  occiput  has  only  i,  rus  has  either  e  or  z', 
but  rure  commonly  signifies  '  from  the  country ' 
and  ruri  '  in  the  country ' ;  met  has  rarely  i." 

We  were  expected  to  divine,  apparently,  for  few 
hints  were  given  us  of  the  beauties  of  Csesar  and 
Virgil  and  Ovid,  of  the  Anabasis  and  the  Iliad,  of 
the  manners,  thoughts,  and  customs  of  the  Greeks 
and  Romans,  and  the  relations  of  the  classic  tongues 
to  ours.  But  every  one  of  us  was  expected,  when 
the  master  gave  out  from  that  gloomy  little  com 
pilation  on  ancient  geography,  "  Baird's  Classical 
Manual,"  Sybaris  for  instance,  to  be  able,  if  called 
upon,  to  answer  like  a  flash  :  "  Proverbial  for  the 
luxury  of  its  inhabitants  ; "  and  then  to  continue  in 
sequence :  "  Thurii  founded  by  the  Athenians  B. 
c.  443,  with  whom  were  Herodotus  and  Lysias  the 
orator.  In  the  west  also,  on  the  coast  JElea,  ffelia, 
or  Velia,  the  birthplace  of  Zeno  and  Parmenides, 
the  founders  of  the  Eleatic  School  of  Philosophy  ;  " 


FIRST  IMPRESSIONS.  165 

and  so  on  until  bidden  to  stop.  It  is  no  exaggera 
tion  to  state  that  there  were  boys  who,  if  started 
at  any  point  in  its  sixty  closely  printed  pages,  could 
recite  to  the  end  without  slip  or  falter,  and  yet 
who  had  no  further  knowledge  concerning  the 
places  or  individuals  enumerated  than  was  con 
tained  in  the  brief  paragraphs  of  which  those  just 
cited  are  prolix  examples. 

It  may  have  been  noticed  by  the  parents,  if  not 
by  the.  boys  who  have  followed  Jack's  experiences 
up  to  this  point,  that  very  little  has  been  said  on 
the  subject  of  his  lessons,  and  that  consideration 
has  been  mainly  given  to  his  sports,  his  snow-ball 
fights,  his  mischief-making,  and  what  he  did  in 
general  outside  the  schoolroom. 

Let  us  look  the  matter  squarely  in  the  face  and 
acknowledge  that  the  least  said  regarding  his 
schooling  before  he  went  to  Utopia  the  better. 
But  in  justice  to  the  masters  who  had  to  undergo 
the  discouragement  of  seeing  their  efforts  to  make 
him  learn  prove  of  no  avail,  it  should  be  stated  that 
the  fault  lay  neither  in  them  nor  seriously  in  their 
system  of  teaching.  Already  the  theory  of  culti 
vating  the  memory  alone  at  the  expense  of  the 


166  JACK  HALL. 

other  faculties  had  fallen  into  disrepute  in  the  pub 
lic  schools  of  his  native  city,  and  was  being  sup 
planted  by  methods  calculated  to  make  boys  and 
girls  think  for  themselves  instead  of  developing 
into  mere  machines.  But  it  is  to  be  feared  that  up 
to  this  time  the  advantages  of  living  in  an  enlight 
ened  age  had  been  lost  upon  our  hero,  if  the  inter 
est  he  took  in  his  daily  tasks  be  regarded  as  evi 
dence.  To  tell  the  truth,  he  had  been  incorrigibly 
idle ;  his  thoughts  rarely  kept  themselves  fixed  for 
five  minutes  at  a  time  on  any  branch  of  knowledge 
disassociated  with  the  Frog  Pond,  Ma'am  Horn, 
Joe  Herring,  or  some  one  or  other  of  the  interest 
ing  localities  or  personages  whose  acquaintance  we 
have  already  made.  It  had  always  been  a  moment 
of  supreme  happiness  to  him  when  the  bell  sounded, 
announcing  that  he  was  at  liberty  to  pitch  his 
dog's-eared,  pencil-marked  books  into  his  desk  and 
to  depart  for  the  day,  and  the  hours  preceding  that 
welcome  summons  were  too  apt  to  drag  heavily 
unless  relieved  by  oases  of  mischief.  It  is  no  easy 
task,  be  the  master  ever  so  conscientious,  to  engage 
the  interest  of  those  boys  in  a  large  class  who  count 
the  school  hours  in  much  the  same  spirit  that  a 


FIRST  IMPRESSIONS.  167 

prisoner  counts  the  weeks  which  must  elapse  before 
lie  is  free.  To  one  fond  of  his  calling  and  ambitious 
to  have  his  pupils  shine,  the  good  scholars  must  in 
evitably  commend  themselves,  and  he  is  only  too 
likely  to  let  the  rag,  tag,  and  bobtail  shift  for 
themselves,  feeling,  doubtless,  that  time  and  energy 
spent  in  endeavoring  to  make  them  fond  of  their 
books  cannot  fail  to  be  wasted.  It  was  to  the  rag, 
tag,  and  bobtail  emphatically  that  Jack  had  be 
longed.  With  three  or  four  other  boys,  among 
whom  was  the  ever  faithful  Dubsy,  he  had  disputed 
the  doubtful  distinction  of  being  at  the  foot  of 
his  class,  and  the  monthly  reports  which  he  had 
brought  home  to  his  mother  were  monotonous  in 
their  uniform  lack  of  excellence. 

It  will,  therefore,  be  seen  that  the  good  advice, 
regarding  the  purpose  for  which  he  had  been  sent 
to  Utopia,  delivered  by  Dr.  Meredith  on  that  first 
evening,  was  peculiarly  adapted  to  Jack's  needs, 

and   should  have  sunk  deep  into  his  heart.     But 

i 

just  as  one  swallow  will  not  make  a  summer,  a 
single  homily  will  rarely  suffice  to  change  an  idle 
boy  into  an  industrious  one.  If  the  truth  must 
be  told,  there  is  reason  to  doubt  whether  Jack  gave 


168  JACK  HALL. 

that  part  of  the  Doctor's  lecture  —  although  it  im 
pressed  him  greatly  for  a. moment,  I  dare  say,  and 
made  him  inwardly  resolve  to  be  very  diligent  for 
the  future  —  a  second  thought  after  he  went  away 
under  the  wing  of  Mrs.  Betty.  And  if  he  neglected 
to  consider  the  matter  further  that  night,  he  cer 
tainly  did  not  think  much  about  it  in  the  morning, 
•when,  having  escaped  molestation  from  Jack  Spratt 
and  his  wife,  he  awoke  and  found  himself  face  to 
face  with,  and  fairly  entranced  by,  the  great  school 
world.  No  wonder  that  the  master  who  examined 
the  pair  after  breakfast,  with  a  view  to  discovering 
their  acquirements,  held  up  his  hands  in  horror 
upon  making  his  report  to  Dr.  Meredith,  and  ob 
served,  pathetically,  that  he  was  at  a  loss  to  decide 
which  of  the  two  had  made  the  worse  showing. 

"  They  both  seemed  bright  boys  when  I  saw 
them  last  night,"  answered  the  Doctor. 

"  Oh,  they  're  bright  enough,"  said  Mr.  Percy. 
"  I  judge,  however,  that  neither  of  them  has  ever 
been  made  to  study." 

"  Then  we  shall  have  to  begin  at  first  principles," 
was  the  reply. 

Accordingly  Jack  and  Haseltine  were   enrolled 


FIRST   IMPRESSIONS.  169 

in  the  lowest  of  the  six  classes  into  which  the 
school  was  divided,  but  in  the  first  of  the  two 
divisions  composing  the  class.  As  they  were  not 
to  take  their  places  until  the  following  morning, 
they  were  free  for  the  rest  of  the  day  to  look  about 
them.  They  were  left  pretty  much  to  their  own 
devices  during  the  forenoon,  for  until  half  an  hour 
before  dinner  time  the  whole  school  was  busy  with 
recitations  and  study.  So  they  improved  their  op 
portunities,  to  begin  with,  by  wandering  around 
the  large  quadrangle,  peering  up  at  the  buildings, 
stepping  for  a  moment  into  the  chapel,  where  they 
admired,  with  bated  breath,  the  carving  and  the 
stained-glass  windows,  and  bringing  up  finally  at 
the  gymnasium.  Here  they  spent  some  time  in  the 
inspection  of  the  bars,  weights,  rowing-machines, 
and  other  apparatus,  the  use  of  which  was  ex 
plained  very  kindly  by  the  superintendent,  Dr. 
Bolles,  who  introduced  himself  to  them,  and  who, 
at  the  close  of  his  instructions,  invited  them  into 
his  private  office  that  he  might  take  their  measure 
ments.  After  they  had  stripped  themselves  to  the 
skin,  Dr.  Bolles — having  entered  their  names,  age, 
and  birthplace  in  a  large  ledger,  a  separate  page 


170  JACK    HALL. 

of  which  was  devoted  to  every  boy  in  the  school — 
proceeded  to  tap  their  bodies  and  to  listen  to  their 
lungs  and  hearts,  in  a  very  attentive  manner. 
Then  he  weighed  them,  ascertained  their  height, 
and  the  number  of  inches  they  measured  round  the 
chest,  forearm,  biceps,  hips,  and  calves. 

Haseltine,  who  was  the  first  to  go  through  the 
ordeal,  looked  a  bit  lanky,  stripped,  and  somewhat 
flat-chested.  There  was  not  much  flesh  on  his 
bones,  as  was  apparent  from  the  manner  in  which 
his  ribs  stuck  out. 

"  You  must  learn  to  hold  yourself  up  straight, 
and  not  to  stoop,  Haseltine,"  said  the  superintend 
ent,  scrutinizing  him  critically.  "  You  '11  become 
round-shouldered  if  you  don't  have  a  care.  You 
should  use  the  upright  bars  every  day.  Appetite 
good?" 

"  First  rate,"  answered  Haseltine,  looking  rather 
crestfallen  at  this  depreciation  of  his  physique. 

"  Food  runs  to  muscle,  then.  No  spare  flesh 
here,"  he  observed,  passing  his  hand  over  the  little 
fellow's  frame.  "  Pretty  wiry.  Sound  as  a  trivet ; 
but  those  chest-muscles  need  strengthening ;  we 
must  build  you  out.  Good  arm,  very  good,"  he 


FIRST  IMPRESSIONS.  171 

added,  as  Haseltine  doubled  up  his  biceps  with  a 
smile  of  conscious  pride.  "  Base-ball,  I  suppose ; 
yes,  out  of  all  proportion  to  the  left ;  I  thought  so. 
Ever  been  examined  before?"  Haseltine  shook 
his  head.  " I  suppose  not.  You've  come  here  just 
in  time.  We  '11  make  a  man  of  you  yet.  Now 
Hall." 

Jack  was  all  of  a  tremble.  In  the  first  place, 
the  stethoscope  business  was  rather  alarming  and 
suggested  all  sorts  of  possibilities  in  the  way  of 
broken  wind  and  heart-disease,  and  then  he  did  not 
relish  at  all  being  picked  to  pieces  before  Hasel 
tine.  He  wondered  whether  he  looked  equally 
scraggy,  and  derived  his  first  ray  of  consolation 
from  the  complimentary  expression  of  Dr.  Bolles' 
eye,  as  the  superintendent  (after  taking  several 
measurements  in  silence)  stood  off  and  surveyed 
him  with  evident  complacency. 

"  Ah,  Carlisle,  good  morning,"  Dr.  Bolles  ex 
claimed  to  a  delicate  appearing  boy  who  had  just 
entered  the  office.  "  There 's  a  good  all  round  fel 
low  for  you  to  model  yourself  on.  No  dyspepsia 
in  him.  He  does  n't  know  what  nerves  mean.  If 
you  don't  grow  up  into  a  healthy,  well-formed 


172  JACK   HALL. 

man,"  he  continued  to  Jack,  "  it  '11  be  your  own 
fault.  You  've  got  a  good  start ;  you  can't  be  a 
Hercules,  there 's  not  enough  of  you  for  that,  but 
you  're  cut  out  for  health  if  you  take  care  of  your 
self.  You  've  been  looked  after  at  home,  evidently. 
That 'sail." 

Jack  put  on  his  clothes  again,  feeling  proud  as 
a  peacock,  and  entirely  reconciled  to  the  fact  that 
Haseltine's  biceps  was  bigger  than  his  own.  The 
boy  addressed  as  Carlisle,  who  was  sauntering  about 
in  the  office  quite  at  his  ease,  gave  Jack  and  Hasel- 
tine  a  critical  glance  from  his  handsome  dark  eyes, 
and  then  examined  for  a  few  moments  the  doctor's 
entries  in  the  ledger  regarding  them.  He  was  a 
striking-looking  lad,  with  an  intelligent  and  at  the 
same  time  attractive  expression,  and  though  he  was 
slight  and  evidently  far  from  robust,  there  was 
nothing  effeminate  either  in  his  appearance  or 
manner. 

"  How  are  you,  to-day  ?  "  Dr.  Bolles  inquired  of 
him. 

"  Oh,  I  'm  better ;  I  feel  like  a  fighting-cock," 
was  the  reply. 

"  You  look  better.     But  now,  my  dear  boy,  pray 


FIRST   IMPRESSIONS.  173 

give  yourself  a  chance.  You  can't  do  everything, 
—  be  a  ball- player,  good  oar,  crack  sprinter,  and 
the  head  of  your  class,  all  at  the  same  time,  with 
your  present  physique,  and  keep  well.  Hall  and 
Haseltine,"  the  superintendent  added,  "  let  me 
make  you  acquainted  with  Louis  Carlisle,  our 
champion  short-distance  runner,  and  poet  laureate. 
He  has  been  in  the  infirmary  for  the  past  fortnight 
because  lie  wouldn't  take  care  of  himself.  I  dare 
say  that  if  you  two  boys  are  so  inclined,  he  will 
stroll  with  you  up  to  the  lake  to  show  you  the 
boat-houses  and  enlighten  you  a  little  as  to  how 
we  live  at  Utopia." 

"  I  shall  be  very  glad,  I  'm  sure,"  answered  Car 
lisle  politely.  "  The  walk  will  do  me  good." 

He  was  half  a  head  taller  than  either  Jack  or 
Haseltine,  and  evidently  two  years  their  senior. 
In  a  tone  not  unduly  patronizing  he  proceeded  to 
make  a  running  commentary  on  what  they  saw,  as 
they  accompanied  him  a  few  minutes  later  on  the 
projected  tour  of  investigation. 

"  What  dormitory  are  you  in  ? "  he  inquired  at 
the  start. 

"  Fullham,"  said  Jack. 


174  JACK  HALL. 

"  That 's  mine,  too.  I  'ra  to  go  back  in  a  day  or 
two.  It 's  dreadfully  lonely  in  the  infirmary  when 
no  one  else  is  sick.  I  caught  cold  after  winning 
the  hundred-yard  dash,  and  Dr.  Bolles  says  I  was 
threatened  with  typhoid.  There  's  the  infirmary," 
he  added,  pointing  to  a  good-sized  cottage  in  the 
field  behind  Granger  Hall.  "  You  can  just  see  it. 
Every  one  who  is  sick  is  sent  there.  A  year  ago 
there  were  eighteen  cases  of  measles  at  the  same 
time.  Can  either  of  you  leg  it  any?"  he  inquired, 
eying  them  each  in  turn  with  a  scientific  air. 

"I  used  to  run  pretty  fast  at  prisoner's  base," 
said  Jack. 

"  I  've  practiced  stealing  second  a  good  deal,"  re 
plied  Haseltine. 

"  There  's  the  track,"  continued  Carlisle,  indicat 
ing  the  flagged  half-mile  course  which  surrounded 
the  football  field.  "  Like  to  see  it  near  to  ?  " 

The  boys  assented  and  followed  their  guide  over 
the  terrace  for  a  few  yards,  until  they  came  to  a 
kind  of  stand  not  unlike  a  witness-box,  to  which 
they  ascended.  "  Here's  where  the  judges  sit  and 
where  we  finish,"  he  said.  "  We  have  athletic 
sports,  that  is,  running  and  jumping,  and  all  that 


FIRST  IMPRESSIONS.  175 

sort  of  thing,  twice  a  year,  once  in  the  spring  and 
once  in  the  autumn.  The  spring  meeting  comes 
off  in  about  a  month.  The  hundred-yard  dash, 
which  I  won,  was  an  extra  match  got  up  by  the 
backers  of  Coleman,  Junior.  His  brother,  Cole- 
man,  Senior,  who  went  to  Harvard  last  year,  was 
champion  of  the  school  for  three  years,  and  he  is 
trying  to  follow  in  his  brother's  footsteps." 

"  Were"  you  ever  licked?"  asked  Jack,  looking 
up  in  the  crack  runner's  face  with  respectful  admi 
ration. 

"  Oh  yes,  often.  Coleman,  Senior,  licked  me 
right  along  until  the  last  time,  when  I  beat  the 
school  record.  I  dare  say  Jessup  '11  make  it  warm 
for  me  before  long.  He  's  only  in  the  fifth,  but  I  'd 
almost  back  him  to-day  against  Coleman,  Junior. 
Are  you  both  in  the  sixth  ?  " 

The  boys  nodded. 

"  I  'm  in  the  third ;  quite  a  patriarch,  you  see. 
There 's  no  reason  why  both  of  you  should  n't  make 
good  sprinters  if  you  give  your  minds  to  it." 

This  prophecy  sounded  agreeable  to  Jack  and 
Haseltine  as  they  trotted  along,  one  on  either  side 
of  him,  on  their  way  to  the  lake,  passing  out  of  the 


176  JACK  HALL. 

quadrangle  through  the  same  arched  portal  by 
which  they  had  entered  it  the  night  before,  and  so 
over  the  base-ball  practice  field  to  the  main  road, 
from  which  Carlisle  presently  diverged  to  take  a 
cut  across  the  meadows.  He  explained  to  them, 
among  other  things,  that  every  one  had  to  be  inside 
the  quadrangle  at  the  close  of  the  curfew,  as  the 
supper-bell  at  half-past  six  was  called,  on  pain  of  an 
interview  with  Dr.  Meredith. 

"  Are  you  on  the  nine  ?  "  inquired  Haseltine,  who 
had  been  burning  to  ask  the  question. 

"Not  on  the  school  nine.  I  was  on  the  dormi 
tory  nine,  but  I  've  decided  not  to  play  this  year. 
I  'm  trying  not  to  spread  my  butter  too  thin,  as  Dr. 
Bolles  calls  it.  He  thinks  I  do  too  many  things," 
he  added  by  way  of  explanation.  "  You  know  each 
of  the  dormitories  has  its  separate  nine  and  foot 
ball  team,  and  there  's  great  rivalry  between  them. 
Fullham  beat  Dudley  the  first  match  of  the  season 
last  Saturday,  and  plays  Rogers  this  afternoon." 

This  announcement  was  very  interesting.  Be 
fore  they  reached  the  lake,  Carlisle  had  also  in 
formed  them  that  there  was  a  cricket  eleven,  a 
•weekly  newspaper  called  "  The  Utopian,"  of  which 


FIRST  IMPRESSIONS.  177 

he  was  one  of  the  editors,  a  glee  club,  and  four 
eight-oared  crews,  —  the  Atalantas,  Orions,  Nira- 
rods,  and  Mohicans.  "  There  are,  besides,  ten  single- 
scull  shells  and  several  pair  oars,"  he  said,  leading 
the  way  into  one  of  the  two  tastefully  built  boat- 
houses,  perched  side  by  side  on  the  bank  of  the 
broad  lake,  each  with  a  covered  piazza  in  front. 

The  main  space  in  the  centre,  as  they  entered, 
was  filled-  by  the  eight-oared  racing-boats,  the  sight 
of  which  lying  side  by  side  delighted  and  almost 
awed  Jack,  who  had  never  examined  anything  of 
the  sort,  and  who  straightway  made  the  resolution 
that,  no  matter  what  else  he  did  or  did  not  do  at 
Utopia,  he  would  go  in  for  rowing.  He  had  often 
heard  his  mother  tell  that  his  father  had  been  a 
famous  oar  in  his  day,  and  he  himself  was  entirely 
at  home  in  a  dory,  and  able,  in  his  own  opinion, 
already  to  scull  nearly  if  not  quite  as  well  as  the 
fishermen  at  Nahant  and  Swampscott,  whose  com 
panion  he  was  wont  to  be  in  the  summer  time  on 
their  expeditions  after  cod  and  haddock.  He  had 
often  wished  to  look  at  a  paper  shell  near  to,  and 
now  his  ambition  was  gratified.  There  were  rests 
on  each  side  of  the  building,  reaching  nearly  to  the 


178  JACK    HALL. 

ceiling,  along  which  the  small  boats  were  arranged 
in  tiers,  and  in  one  corner  was  a  snug  little  room 
hung  with  flags,  and  photographs  of  winning  crews 
and  crack  oarsmen,  and  furnished  with  a  round  ta 
ble  and  chairs,  where,  Carlisle  said,  the  Meetings  of 
the  club  were  held.  In  the  adjoining  boat-house 
were  more  boats,  including  an  eight-oared  barge, 
of  which,  as  Carlisle  told  them,  Mrs.  Meredith  was 
the  coxswain  whenever  she  was  willing  to  go  out  on 
the  lake. 

"  It 's  great  fun  here  a  little  later  in  the  season," 
observed  their  guide  as  they  sat  down  to  rest  on  the 
piazza  after  everything  had  been  inspected.  "  On 
a  pleasant,  still  afternoon  there  are  sometimes  more 
than  twenty  boats  out,  of  one  kind  and  another." 

"  Who 's  the  fastest  rower  ?  "  asked  Jack. 

"  The  Doctor  is  the  crack  single  sculler." 

"  The  Doctor  ?     Does  he  row  ?  " 

"Oh,  yes,  indeed.  He  came  pretty  near  being 
beaten,  though,  last  year.  Whitehead  crawled  up 
on  him  so  that  there  was  n't  more  than  half  a  length 
between  them  at  the  finish.  You  never  saw  such 
excitement." 

"  Was  n't   he  mad  ? "  inquired  Jack,  to  whom 


FIRST  IMPRESSIONS.  179 

the  idea  of  a  master  being  beaten  by  one  of  his 
scholars  seemed  most  extraordinary. 

"  Who,  the  Doctor  ?  Not  a  bit  of  it ;  he  's  a  true 
sport,"  said  Carlisle.  "There  was  no  one  more 
pleased  than  he  at  being  forced  to  pull  for  all  lie 
was  worth." 

Further  inquiry  revealed  that  the  Atalantas  were 
for  the  time  being  the  champion  of  the  eight- 
oared  crews ;  and  after  a  score  more  questions, 
which  Carlisle  answered  most  good-naturedly,  the 
boys  retraced  their  footsteps  so  as  to  get  back  iu 
time  for  dinner.  Seeing  that  their  mentor  was  so 
well  disposed,  Jack  took  occasion  on  the  way  to  im 
part  a  little  of  what  Horace  Hosmer  had  dropped 
regarding  Jack  Spratt  and  his  Wife,  which  Carlisle 
listened  to  at  first  with  no  other  comment  than  an 
occasional  sidelong  glance,  which  struck  them  as 
far  from  reassuring.  Once  Carlisle  started  to  speak, 
but  some  impediment  in  his  throat  checking  him, 
he  seemed  to  change  his  mind,  until  Haseltine's  re 
mark  that  they  were  fortunate  in  being  in  a  differ 
ent  dormitory  from  the  formidable  pair  drew  out 
the  laconic  observation,  "  That  won't  help  you 
much." 


180  JACK    HALL. 

"Why?"  asked  Jack. 

"Those  fellows  are  all  over  the  lot,"  was  the 
answer.  "  They  'd  think  nothing  of  snaking  a  new 
boy  out  of  bed  in  the  small  hours  of  the  morning, 
no  matter  where  he  was." 

"  But  I  wonder  the  Doctor  allows  it,"  said  Ha- 
seltine,  hoping  for  a  more  satisfactory  response  to 
this  exclamation  than  it  had  elicited  from  Horace. 

"  Who  's  to  tell  him  ? "  cried  Carlisle  sternly, 
looking  straight  at  the  offender.  "  You  boys  may 
count  on  one  thing,  and  that  is  that  tale-bearing 
does  n't  go  down  at  Utopia.  Any  fellow  who  told 
tales  here  would  be  hustled  out  of  the  school,  and 
the  Doctor  'd  be  the  first  to  avoid  him." 

The  decision  with  which  these  words  were  spoken 
caused  Jack  and  Haseltine  to  hang  their  heads 
guiltily,  and  presumably  to  reflect  that  the  coup 
let— 

"  Tell-tale  tit, 

Your  tongue  shall  be  slit, 
And  all  the  dogs  in  the  town 
Shall  have  a  little  bit," 

formed   a   no   less  important  part  of  the  code  of 
youth  than  of  childhood. 


FIRST  IMPRESSIONS.  181 

"  It  's  hard  on  new  boys,  I  admit,"  continued 
Carlisle,'  after  a  moment,  in  a  contemplative  tone, 
"and  if  those  fellows  keep  on  in  their  cruel  Ways 
they  '11  kill  somebody  next." 

"  Horace  Hosmer  told  us  they  did  kill  two  boys 
last  term,"  said  Jack,  in  a  stage  whisper. 

"Yes,"  exclaimed  Haseltine;  "it  was  reported 
to  be  chicken-pox,  but  he  says  he  helped  to  lay 
them  out -after  they  were  dead,  and  they  were  a 
mass  of  bruises  from  the  crown  of  the  head  to  the 
soles  of  the  feet." 

Carlisle  looked  very  grave  and  nodded  his  head 
with  an  ominous  air.  "  I  did  n't  suppose  Horace 
knew  about  it,"  he  said  ;  "  it  was  kept  very  dark." 

"  Then  you  knew  of  it  ?  "  asked  Jack. 

"  Bless  you,  yes.  It  ought  to  have  taught  Tobey 
and  Donaldson  a  lesson,"  Carlisle  added  gloomily, 
"  but  it  did  n't.  They  're  just  as  bad  as  ever,  this 
term." 

"  What  is  the  best  thing  to  do  if  —  if  they  should 
ever  happen  to  fix  on  us  ?  "  asked  Jack  presently, 
with  a  slight  gulp. 

Carlisle  whistled  reflectively.  "  I  '11  be  doggoned 
if  I  know,"  he  replied  at  last.  "I'd  keep  a  stiff 


182  JACK   HALL. 

upper  lip,  if  I  were  you,  and  be  as  sandy  as  you 
can.  They  '11  let  you  off  easily,  perhaps,  if  they 
see  you  've  got  grit ;  but  if  you  funk,  I  would  n't 
give  much  for  your  chances  of  getting  through  with 
a  whole  skin.  I  '11  say  a  good  word  for  you  in  ad 
vance.  It  may  save  you  a  broken  leg  or  arm." 

After  the  delivery  of  this  speech,  Carlisle  in 
dulged  in  a  short,  hysterical  laugh,  which  seemed 
to  his  listeners  quite  out  of  keeping  with  their  own 
feelings.  But  it  was  evidently  a  mere  spasmodic 
expression  of  sympathy,  for  his  countenance  im 
mediately  regained  the  expression  of  deep  gloom 
which  it  had  worn  ever  since  the  subject  of  Spratt 
a*nd  his  Wife  had  been  introduced. 

"  Thank  you  very  much  indeed,"  answered  each 
of  the  boys  in  turn. 

"  Not  at  all  —  not  at  all.  I  fear  that  my  words 
cannot  avail  you  much,"  he  responded. 

They  were  now  within  school  bounds  again,  and 
there  was  only  just  time  to  go  to  their  rooms  before 
dinner.  Carlisle,  in  keeping  with  his  previous 
kindness,  announced  that  as  it  might  be  advisable 
to  say  what  he  had  to  say  to  Tobey  and  Donaldson 
at  once,  he  would  take  his  dinner  with  the  school. 

* 


FIRST  IMPRESSIONS.  183 

Accordingly,  assuring  the  boys  that  he  felt  well 
enough  for  this  exertion,  he  started  off  at  a  lively 
jog  for  the  infirmary  so  as  to  be  on  hand. 

Jack  and  Ilaseltine  had  been  given  provisional 
seats  at  breakfast,  but  Mrs.  Betty,  who  presided 
over  the  younger  boys,  now  assigned  them  to  places 
not  far  from  one  another  at  her  own  table.  It  was 
an  impressive  moment,  and  one  could  have  heard  a 
pin  drop  while  the  Doctor  asked  a  blessing  in  his 
clear,. manly  tones  on  the  repast  spVead  for  his  two 
hundred  hungry  pupils,  who  stood  behind  their 
chairs  in  long  lines  up  and  down  the  big  hall  wait 
ing  for  the  signal  to  fall  to,  which  they  did  with  a 
vengeance  you  may  be  sure,  when  they  got  it.  Dr: 
Meredith  and  his  wife,  the  married  masters,  and  a 
few  of  the  prefects  occupied  a  table  on  a  platform 
at  one  end  of  the  room  at  right  angles  with  the 
others  and  overlooking  them  all.  There  was  a  mas 
ter  at  the  end  of  each,  who  did  the  carving  and 
kept  good  order. 

The  dinner  was  simple  but  extremely  good.  A 
clear,  honest  soup  well  flavored  with  vegetables ; 
ribs  of  roast  beef  carefully  basted  and  neither  done 
to  death  nor  so  distressingly  blue  as  some  cooks  are 

*,  I 


184  JACK  HALL. 

capable  of  sending  it  up  from  the  kitchen  ;  potatoes, 
tomatoes,  macaroni,  light  bread,  sweet  butter,  and 
for  dessert  a  cup  of  baked  custard  invitingly  served. 
Everything  was  clean  and  neat,  thanks  to  the  vigi 
lant  eye  of  Mrs.  Betty  and  her  assistants,  and 
thanks,  first  of  all,  to  the  founders  of  Utopia,  who 
laid  it  down  us  one  of  the  principles  of  the  school 
that  so  everything  must  be.  No  extravagance,  no 
rich  dishes,  no  wine  or  beer,  but  plenty  of  blood- 
making,  sinew-strengthening,  bone-building  food, 
fresh,  appetizing,  and  unspoiled. 

I  have  seen  school  tables,  and  between  you  and 
me  private  tables  also,  at  which  such  a  dinner  as 
that  just  described  was  made  thoroughly  unpala 
table  by  the  manner  in  which  it  was  prepared ; 
where  the  soup  was  a  thin,  unseasoned,  straw- 
colored  fluid,  the  beef  ruined  by  one  of  the  ex 
tremes  of  cooking  already  referred  to,  the  vegetables 
greasy,  the  bread  clammy,  the  butter  rancid,  and 
the  cup  of  custard  pale  and  watery.  There  are 
persons  who  do  not  think  such  matters  worth  con 
sidering,  who  believe  that  any  time  devoted  to 
making  our  daily  repasts  savory  is  misspent,  and 
that  young  people,  boys  in  particular,  should  eat 


FIRST  1MPEESSIONS.  185 

what  is  set  before  them  without  asking  questions, 
thankful  that  there  is  anything  to  eat  at  all. 

It  is  easy  to  perceive  that  such  doctrines  are 
thoroughly  pernicious  and  unsound,  if  you  reflect 
that  our  capabilities  as  men  and  women  are  chiefly 
dependent  on  what  our  bodies  permit  us  to  be,  and 
that  the  component  parts  of  these  bodies  are  de 
termined  in  the  main  by  the  food  we  eat,  the  air 
we  breathe,  the  clothing  we  wear,  and  the  sleep 
we  get.  There  is  no  greater  mistake  in  the  world 
than  to  disregard  the  laws  of  health  under  the  plea 
that  they  are  not  worthy  of  notice ;  and  if  they  are 
thus  important  for  those  of  us  who  are  grown  up 
to  bear  in  mind  as  essential  to  human  wellbeing, 
how  much  more  vital  is  it  that  the  young  should 
be  given  every  opportunity  to  fit  themselves  phys 
ically  for  the  battle  of  life.  Bear  this  in  mind, 
boys,  and  when  you  are  served  with  slovenly,  un 
wholesome  cookery,  protest  with  all  your  might. 
Do  not  be  ashamed  to  know  and  recognize  good 
things  to  eat.  The  temperate  enjoyment  of  the 
pleasures  of  the  table  is  a  legitimate  and  important 
element  of  happiness. 

Meanwhile    our   young   friend,   Jack  Hall,    has 


186  JACK  HALL. 

been  enjoying  his  dinner  mightily,  though  it  is  no 
better,  in  truth,  than  what  he  has  been  accus 
tomed  to  at  home,  which  is  not  surprising  if  we 
recall  the  double  devotion  of  his  mother  and  the 
faithful  Hannah,  whose  hearts  are  doubtless  pretty 
sore  at  this  time.  When  his  hunger  is  somewhat 
appeased  he  ventures  to  gaze  about  him  a  little, 
exchanging  a  few  shy  words  with  the  boys  near 
him,  all  of  whom  seem  friendly  and  willing  to  re 
ceive  him  as  a  companion.  He  makes  the  acquaint 
ance  of  Buck  on  one  side  of  him,  Horton  on  the 
other,  and  Travers,  Bailey,  and  Cunningham  across 
the  table.  Horton,  who  is  a  plump,  talkative  little 
chap  of  his  own  size,  points  out  to  him  the  various 
school  celebrities,  including  Ramsay,  Bedloe,  and 
Goldthwaite  of  the  nine  ;  Burbank,  the  stalwart, 
bearded  captain  of  the  fifteen ;  and  little,  active- 
looking  Bobby  Crosby,  who,  as  Jack  knows,  is 
expected  to  take  Burbank's  place  next  year;  Ha- 
zelhurst,  the  stroke  of  the  Atalantas  and  champion 
oar  of  the  school  (always  excepting  the  invincible 
Doctor)  now  that  Whitehead  has  graduated ;  and 
Carlisle,  who  nods  across  the  room  in  a  friendly 
manner  from  his  seat  with  the  big  second-class 


FIRST  IMPRESSIONS.  187 

boys,  so  that  Horton  asks  with  interest,  "•  Do  you 
know  him  ?  " 

"  I  was  introduced  to  him  this  morning  at  the 
gymnasium,"  replies  Jack.  "  He  showed  Haseltine 
and  me  to  the  boat-houses." 

"He  's  the  smartest  boy  at  Utopia,  —  first  rate  at 
games,  head  of  his  class,  and  champion  sprinter. 
There 's  Coleman,  Junior,  sitting  with  the  third 
next  to  Jumbo,  —  his  real  name  's  Blair,  but  every 
one  calls  him  Jumbo  because  he  's  so  fat,  —  he  can 
run  pretty  fast,  and  it 's  neck  and  neck  between 
him  and  Jessup,  that  boy  on  the  right  of  Mr. 
Sawyer,  but  neither  of  them  can  catch  Carlisle. 
You  ought  to  hear  Jumbo  sing;  he's  the  best  tenor 
we  've  got." 

Most  of  this  information  is  not  new  to  Jack,  but 
he  is  glad  to  hear  the  heroes  catalogued  again  at  a 
time  when  he  can  take  a  good  peep  at  them.  He 
feels  proud  of  his  acquaintance  with  Carlisle,  and 
glances  from  time  to  time  in  that  direction,  for  he 
has  not  forgotten  his  senior's  promise  to  speak  a 
good  word  for  him. 

"  I  wonder  what 's  up  at  the  second  form  table," 
says  Horton  presently.  "  Some  one  or  other  keeps 


188  JACK   HALL. 

turning  round  and  laughing.  There  must  be  a  gag 
on  you,"  he  adds,  turning  to  Jack,  who  has  already 
noticed  this  tendency  on  the  part  of  the  boys  in 
the  vicinity  of  his  benefactor.  "  Have  you  done 
anything  fresh  ?  " 

"  Not  that  I  know  of,"  answers  poor  Jack,  who 
is  feeling  far  from  comfortable. 

The  dessert  is  finished,  and  in  another  minute 
dinner  will  be  over.  All  of  a  sudden  Carlisle  gets 
up,  and  after  saying  a  word  to  the  master  at  the 
head  of  the  table,  crosses  to  one  of  those  occupied 
by  the  fourth  class,  and  stoops  to  speak  to  two 
boys  sitting  side  by  side,  whom  Jack  recognizes 
instantly  as  Tobey  and  Donaldson,  the  redoubtable 
Spratt  and  Wife.  He  has  not  perceived  them  be 
fore,  though  he  has  been  on  the  lookout  for  them, 
and  now  that  he  takes  a  glance  at  them  they  do 
not  strike  him  as  very  terrible  in  appearance.  They 
are  good-natured  looking  enough,  but  appearances 
are  deceitful  in  this  world,  as  Jack  very  well  knows, 
and  he  quails  as  he  observes  the  gaze  of  the  trio 
rest  on  him  and  Haseltine  alternately.  Carlisle's 
eyes  sparkle  as  he  talks,  and  he  keeps  his  hand  to 
his  mouth  so  that  Jack  cannot  judge  much  by  its 


FIRST   IMPRESSIONS.  189 

expression.  Spratt  and  Wifey  listen  for  a  moment 
or  two  in  judicial  silence,  then  a  broad,  convulsive 
smile,  which  suggests,  at  least  to  Jack,  the  hilarity 
of  a  hyena,  overspreads  the  features  of  each,  only 
to  be  succeeded  by  a  look  of  glowing  fierceness, 
which  seems  to  the  unhappy  lads  —  for  Haseltine 
is  no  less  conscious  of  it  than  Jack  —  to  argue  ill 
for  the  future.  While  they  are  still  beneath  its 
spell  the  school  rises  from  table,  and  the  two  boys 
are  swept  along  to  the  terrace,  where  Carlisle  pres 
ently  joins  them,  but  only  to  draw  them  aside  and 
whisper  the  ominous  tidings,  "  I  've  done  my  best 
for  you,  but  they  think  you  look  too  cocky,"  an 
announcement  which  makes  them  both  feel  very 
miserable. 

Just  then  a  big  boy,  bat  in  hand,  and  wearing 
a  large  F  embroidered  on  the  bosom  of  his  shirt, 
accosted  their  mentor  with  the  eager  inquiry,  — 
"  Won't  you  help  us  out,  Carlisle  ?  Dobson  has  a 
game  knee  and  can't  possibly  play." 

"  Wish  I  could,  Chalmers,  but  I  Ve  promised 
Dr.  Bolles  to  let  up  on  base-ball  for  the  rest  of  the 
term.  I  'm  only  just  out  of  the  infirmary." 

"  Yes,  I  know  ;  but  it 's  mighty  tough  lines  on 


190  JACK  HALL. 

us  to  have  so  many  of  our  best  men  knocked  up. 
Potts  had  word  this  morning  that  his  mother  is 
sick  and  started  for  home  before  dinner,  and  Plum- 
mer  bust  his  finger  against  the  Stars  yesterday." 

"  What 's  the  matter  with  Cochrane  ?  " 

"  Oh,  Cochrane  's  no  good.  He  '11  fan  himself 
out  every  time,  cock  sure,  on  Bedloe's  pitching. 
We  're  hard  up  for  third  base,  and  Cochrane 's  use 
less  except  in  the  field.  They  've  got  their  strong 
est  team,"  said  Chalmers  impatiently. 

"What  is  it?"  whispered  Haseltine  to  Carlisle. 

"  Fullham  against  Rogers." 

"  I  can  play  third  base,"  continued  Haseltine,  to 
Jack's  infinite  astonishment. 

Carlisle  laughed  gayly.  "  Here 's  your  chance, 
Chalmers,"  he  said.  "  This  new  Fullhamite  says 
he  's  an  artist." 

"  What 's  your  name  ?  "  asked  Chalmers,  scan 
ning  Haseltine  from  top  to  toe. 

"Frank  Haseltine." 

"Have  you  played  much?" 

"  I  've  played  third  base  on  the  St.  Louis  Rising 
Suns  for  two  years." 

"  Are  you  in  practice  ?  " 

"  First  rate." 


FIRST   IMPRESSIONS.  191 

There  was  an  assurance  about  the  applicant  that 
evidently  impressed  Chalmers.  "  Would  you  try 
him  ?  "  he  asked  Carlisle. 

"  He  talks  well." 

"  Talk  is  cheap,"  growled  Chalmers.  "  Well,  be 
on  hand,  then,"  he  said  to  Haseltine.  "Get  into 
your  togs  as  soon  as  you  can.  The  game  '11  be 
called  in  fifteen  minutes." 

Haseltine  looked  radiant  with  delight  as  the 
large  boy  strode  away.  "  Do  you  think  he  '11  let 
me  play  ?  "  he  inquired  beseechingly  of  Carlisle. 

"  I  guess  so ;  he 's  captain  of  the  Fullham  nine. 
It 's  a  big  chance  for  you,  youngster^  to  show  what 
you  're  made  of.  Now  run  along  and  get  ready." 

Jack  felt  rather  envious,  but  not  so  much  so  as 
not  to  be  thoroughly  glad  of  his  friend's  good  for 
tune.  Indeed,  as  he  sat  by  while  Haseltine  got 
into  his  flannels,  he  was  very  well  pleased  to  think 
that  he  was  not  going  to  play  himself.  It  was 
pretty  evident  from  the  way  Haseltine  had  spoken 
of  the  Rising  Suns  the  day  before,  that  they  were 
a  much  superior  nine  to  the  Massasoits,  of  which 
club  Jack  knew  that  he  had  by  no  means  been  the 
strongest  player,  a  conviction  which  helped  to  rec 
oncile  him  to  being  left  out. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

HASELTINE  MAKES   HIS   DEBUT. 

IT  has  been,  and  still  is,  the  fashion  in  certain 
circles  to  decry  base-ball,  and  to  hold  up  to  the 
youth  of  the  country  the  superiority  of  cricket,  as  a 
pastime.  The  arguments,  such  as  they  are,  —  chief 
among  which  is  the  plea  that  cricket  is  a  more  gen 
tlemanly  game,  for  the  reason  that  one  can  play  it 
with  exceeding  comfort  after  -leaving  school  and 
college  as  well  or  nearly  as  well  as  before, — need 
not  be  reiterated,  inasmuch  as  there  is  no  longer 
room  for  argument.  The  case  is  closed.  The  boys 
have  heard  what  was  to  be  said  on  either  side,  and 
have  come  to  a  final  conclusion  in  regard  to  the 
matter.  Base-ball  is  undeniably  the  national  sport 
from  one  end  of  the  land  to  the  other,  and  no 
amount  of  chafing  on  the  part  of  those  who  think 
the  decision  unwise  can  make  the  long  cherished 
cricket  of  our  English  cousins  widely  popular  on 
this  side  of  the  water.  And  after  all,  if  we  ex- 


HASELTINE   MAKES   HIS   DEBUT.  193 

amine  the  reasons,  the  boys  are  not  far  out.  Be  it 
said  with  bated  breath  and  yet  clearly  and  unequiv 
ocally,  that  it  requires  more  skill,  far  more  skill  to 
excel  at  base-ball,  as  it  is  played  to-day,  than  at 
any  other  sport.  Talk  of  muscle,  nerve,  wind, 
quickness  and  correctness  of  eye,  fleetness  of  foot, 
temper,  bottom,  and  grit,  —  what  one  of  these 
qualities  is  not  put  in  training  when  two  closely 
matched  nines  meet  to  play  ball  ?  Try  it,  gentle 
men  of  England,  for  yourselves  and  see.  You  will 
have  to  come  to  the  conclusion  — take  my  Yankee 
word  for  it  —  that  there  is'  more  in  our  game  than 
you  think ;  and  what  is  more,  you  will  know  in 
your  hearts,  though  you  will  never  acknowledge  it, 
that  an  all-day  cricket  match  under  the  trees,  re 
lieved  by  respites  for  beef  and  beer  and  dawdled 
the  whole  time,  —  for  you  take  things  pretty  lei 
surely  after  every  "  over,"  —  is  a  tame  affair,  though 
a  very  gentlemanly  and  delightful  one,  compared 
with  what  we  are  able  to  show  you  under  the  head 
of  ball-playing.  Don't  mistake  us,  gentlemen  of 
England :  we  know  that  cricket  is  a  grand  old 
game,  we  have  watched  it  often  (though  it  is  a 
trifle  dull  to  watch),  played  it,  too,  and  we  continue 


194  JACK   HALL. 

to  play  it  at  times,  but  when  you  come  to  talk 
about  muscle  and  nerve  and  temper  and  bottom 
and  grit,  and  all  that,  as  we  have  said  already,  we 
are  ready  to  back  our  national  game  against  the 
world. 

Chalmers  and  Hackett,  the  captains  of  the  rival 
dormitory  teams,  are  tossing  up  to  see  which  nine 
shall  go  in  first,  as  the  two  new  boys  arrive  on  the 
scene.  Fullham  wins  and  sends  its  opponents  to 
the  bat.  "  Game  called ! "  cries  the  umpire,  and 
Haseltine  has  just  time  to  throw  off  his  jacket  and 
get  into  position  at  third  base  before  Rainsford, 
who  is  to  pitch  for  the  Fullhamites,  enters  the  box. 
Rainsford  is  known  as  "  the  kid  "  because  of  his 
slight  appearance.  He  is  only  in  the  fourth,  but 
his  drop  balls  have  proved  successful  teasers  ere 
this. 

See  how  every  player  on  the  fielding  nine  has 
his  nerves  taut  as  Billy  Douglas  steps  to  the  home 
plate  to  lead  off,  and  poises  his  bat!  They  are 
boys,  of  course,  —  they  have  not  the  experience 
and  sinew  of  professional  or  college  teams,  —  but 
they  are  sturdy  fellows  for  all  that.  They  mean 
business :  so  does  Billy  ;  there  is  blood  in  his  eye ; 
he  hopes  to  start  off  with  a  three  bagger. 


HASELTINE   MAKES   HIS   DEBUT.  195 

"  One  ball !  "  cries  the  umpire. 

"  Two  balls  !  " 

That  won't  do,  Rainsford;  you  can't  afford  to 
let  him  get  his  base  on  balls.  Carefully  now. 

"  One  strike  !  " 

Ah,  that 's  better ;  the  kid  is  settling  down  to 
his  work.  Now  another !  A  hit,  a  palpable  hit ! 
Away  scuds  Douglas  with  all  the  vim  of  his  Scotch 
forefathers,  to  get  to  first  before  the  ball.  No  use, 
Billy  ;  Goldthwaite  has  it  at  second  easy  enough 
and  pops  it  to  Maitland,  who,  as  every  one  knows, 
is  pretty  sure  to  hold  on  to  anything  that  comes 
within  his  reach.  A  shout  goes  up  from  the  Full- 
hamites,  who  to  the  number  of  a  score  or  more,  in 
cluding  Jack,  are  grouped  together  on  one  side  of 
the  catcher,  which  is  answered  by  a  bracing  cheer 
from  a  similar  posse  from  the  rival  dormitory  at 
the  other  side. 

Pousland,  the  next  striker,  makes  a  base  hit,  but 
not  to  much  purpose,  since  Hackett  knocks  up  an 
easy  fly  for  the  kid  to  absorb  without  difficulty,  and 
Johnson  succumbs  on  a  foul  tip  to  Chalmers  catch 
ing  under  the  bat  in  his  iron  mask  and  padded 
gloves  with  an  eye  to  second  which  Pousland  is 


196  JACK  HALL. 

hoping  to  steal.     But  the   third  out   settles  that 
question,  and  down  goes  a  goose-egg  for  Rogers. 

The  formidable  Bedloe  is  a  brawny  lad  to  look 
at,  and  he  has  to  back  him  Bobby  Crosby  at  left 
field  and  Harry  Ramsay  at  first,  making  three  of 
the  school  nine  against  only  Chalmers  and  Gold- 
thwaite  on  the  side  of  Fullham.  Chalmers  goes  to 
the  bat  to  give  his  team  courage,  and  sends  a  sky 
scraper  to  centre  field  which  is  captured  cleverly. 
The  kid  falls  a  prey  to  an  easy  grounder  to  short 
stop,  and  it  looks  as  though  the  innings  would  pan 
out  poorly  for  the  Fullhamites.  But  one  can  count 
on  nothing  at  base-ball  until  the  last  man  is  out ; 
in  testimony  to  which  Hamlen,  who  comes  next  in 
order,  is  given  his  base  on  called  balls,  steals  sec 
ond  by  a  judicious  slide,  and  is  sent  to  third  on  a 
fumble  of  a  hot  liner,  —  a  corker,  —  which  Jackson 
hits  to  second,  getting  his  base  thereby.  Then 
Goldthwaite  comes  to  the  bat  amid  great  applause, 
and  some  one  cries  out,  "  Now  for  a  grass-mower, 
Goldy!" 

Goldthwaite  proves  worthy  of  the  confidence  re 
posed  in  him.  Two  strikes  are  called  on  him  while 
he  waits  for  a  ball  just  in  the  right  place.  He  gets 


HASELTINE   MAKES   HIS   DEBUT.  197 

it  at  last,  when  Bedloe,  hoping  that  the  umpire 
will  call  another  strike  (for  until  this  year  you 
know  three  strikes  was  the  limit),  eases  up  and 
throws  in  a  slow  one.  Goldthwaite  swipes  with  all 
his  might  and  sends  the  ball  between  left  and  cen 
tre  field,  but  clean  out  of  reach  of  Crosby  and 
Plympton.  A  home  run  !  No,  not  quite,  only  a 
three  bagger.  Goldthwaite  holds  his  third,  but 
Hamlen  and  Jackson  have  scored.  Two  runs  to  a 
goose-egg;  not  bad  to  start  with.  But  there  is 
Ogden  out  on  a  foul  and  the  innings  over  with 
Goldthwaite  still  on  third. 

Three  innings  more  on  either  side  do  not  vary  the 
lead,  for  while  Rogers  gets  a  run  in  the  third,  Full- 
ham  caps  it  with  a  single  in  the  fourth,  and  the  score 
is  three  to  one.  No  chance  now  for  a  complete 
whitewash,  which  some  of  the  enthusiasts  among 
the  lookers-on,  encouraged  by  the  start,  have  hoped 
for.  On  the  contrary,  the  shrewder  mind  knows 
that  it  will  be  all  Fullham  can  do  to  hold  her  lead. 
Rogers  has  been  settling  down  to  work.  Bedloe  is 
in  fine  form,  and  is  being  backed  up  bravely.  They 
are  getting  on  to  the  kid,  too,  and  pound  him  for  a 
run  and  two  base  hits  in  the  fifth,  being  prevented 


198  JACK  HALL. 

from  tying  the  score  only  by  a  magnificent  double 
play  of  Goldthwaite  and  Maitland.  Then  they  put 
the  Fullhamites  out  in  one,  two,  three  order. 

Haseltine  has  been  doing  fairly  well,  though  as 
yet  he  has  had  but  two  chances  in  the  field,  the 
first  of  which,  a  fly,  went  up  a  moderate  distance 
and  fell  so  plump  into  his  hands  that  he  did  not 
have  to  budge.  The  other,  a  gently  ambling 
grounder,  shot  between  his  legs  just  as  he  thought 
he  had  it;  an  error  which  elicited  from  Horton, 
who  was  sitting  beside  Jack,  the  unflattering  excla 
mation,  "  Beastly  butter-fingers  !  "  However,  there 
is  a  style  and  general  air  of  knowingness  about  him 
which  has  attracted  attention,  and  Chalmers  has  so 
far  continued  his  own  confidence  in  him  as  to  fling 
twice  to  third  in  order  to  frighten  men  who  were 
off  their  bases,  on  each  of  which  occasions  Hasel 
tine  got  on  to  the  ball,  and  once  came  very  near 
putting  the  too  daring  adversary  out.  He  is  evi 
dently  no  green  hand,  as  he  has  further  shown  by 
the  way  he  handles  the  bat.  Though  apparently 
too  small  to  be  a  very  formidable  willow-wielder, 
his  first  whack  sent  the  ball  far  to  right  field,  where 
it  was  taken  into  camp  very  prettily,  it  must  be 


HASELTINE   MAKES   HIS   DEBUT.  199 

owned.  The  second  time  he  got  his  base  on  balls, 
but  was  put  out  trying  to  steal  second,  in  spite  of  a 
most  admirable  slide  on  his  stomach  for  several 
feet.  The  decision  of  the  umpire  displeased  the 
crowd  of  Fullhamites,  who  manifested  their  resent 
ment  by  crying  "  Not  out,  not  out !  "  vociferously, 
and  applauded  Haseltine  as  he  came  in  from  the 
base  crestfallen  and  covered  with  dust.  It  had 
been  in  the  next  innings  that  he  muffed  the 
grounder,  and  he  was  now  feeling  very  much  dis 
satisfied  with  himself  and  eager  to  wipe  out  these 
spots  on  his  record  by  some  brilliant  stroke. 

The  sixth  innings  adds  another  goose-egg  to  each 
score,  in  spite  of  hard  hitting  on  both  sides,  and  the 
seventh  begins  amid  a  hush  of  suspense.  Jack  can 
scarcely  sit  still,  he  is  so  nervous  with  excitement, 
and  he  is  hoarse  with  spelling  out  at  the  top  of 
his  lungs,  after  every  favorable  play,  "F-U-L-L 
H-A-M  !  Fullham  !  "  which  is  the  dormitory  yell. 
It  is  anybody's  game,  as  Rainsford,  the  kid,  well 
knows,  and  he  plants  his  feet  in  the  box  with  the 
air  of  one  aware  that  the  least  let-up  or  carelessness 
will  be  fatal.  Pousland  is  at  the  bat  again,  and 
whacks  at  the  first  ball.  It  flies  whizzing  in  Hasel- 


200  JACK   HALL. 

tine's  direction,  but  out  of  reach,  and  a  shout  from 
the  Rogers  crowd  rends  the  air.  But  it  is  short 
lived,  for  the  umpire,  who  is  watching  carefully, 
cries,  "  Foul  ball !  "  Whereupon  Pousland,  who  is 
halfway  to  first,  has  to  retrace  his  steps  in  a  mel 
ancholy  fashion.  Had  it  but  struck  just  the  other 
side  of  the  line,  it  would  have  been  good  for  two 
bags.  He  poises  his  bat  again  viciously. 

"  One  strike,"  calls  Prendergast,  the  umpire,  who 
is  captain  of  Dudley. 

There  is  a  roar  from  Fullham,  and  the  striker, 
glancing  round  at  the  umpire  sulkily,  strikes  the 
tip  of  his  bat  against  the  ground  and  grits  his  teeth 
as  he  makes  ready  for  another  ball. 

"  Foul,  —  out !  " 

The  tick  is  plainly  audible,  and  Chalmers'  gloves 
have  closed  firmly  on  the  ball.  Pousland  drops  his 
bat  and  walks  away  in  disgust.  His  place  is  taken 
by  Hackett,  who  strikes  at  the  first  two  balls  with 
out  hitting  either,  but  sends  the  third  over  second 
base  skimming  to  centre,  where  Ogden  jumps  a  lit 
tle  and  holds  it  above  his  head, —  a  pretty  but  not 
very  difficult  catch,  whereat  the  welkin  rings. 

"  Here  come  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Meredith,"  says  Hor- 
ton  to  Jack,  as  the  uproar  gradually  subsides. 


HASELTINE  MAKES  HIS  DEBUT.  201 

Sure  enough,  they  are  close  at  hand,  having  come 
down  expressly  to  see  the  end  of  the  match,  and  are 
given  good  seats  on  one  of  the  few  benches  supplied 
for  such  celebrities.  Several  of  the  masters  have 
been  watching  the  contest  since  the  beginning,  but 
the  presence  of  the  head  of  the  school  is  evidently 
a  new  incentive  to  every  player  to  good  work,  if 
any  were  still  needed. 

Johnson  is  the  third  man  at  the  bat.  Prender- 
gast  calls  one  ball  on  the  kid,  and  Johnson  swipes 
the  next.  It  somehow  or  other  gets  past  Gold- 
thwaite,  and  before  Hamlen  can  field  it  to  Mail- 
land  the  striker  is  safe  at  first.  It  is  now  the  turn 
for  Rogers  to  howl,  which  it  does  with  a  ven 
geance,—"  R-O-G-E-R  S  !  Roger-r-rs  !  " 

Ferguson  is  to  strike  now.  He  is  third  base  and 
one  of  Rogers'  heaviest  sluggers.  Hackett  goes 
down  behind  first  to  coach  Johnson  and  tell  him 
when  to  try  to  steal  second. 

"  One  strike  !  " 

"  One  ball !  " 

"  Two  balls  !  " 

Johnson,  meanwhile,  is  bobbing  up  and  down 
hesitating  whether  to  run  or  not.  The  kid,  just  as 


202  JACK   HALL. 

he  looks  ready  to  pitch  the  fourth,  turns  and  makes 
the  gesture  of  hurling  to  first. 

"  Look  out ! "  bawls  Hackett,  and  Johnson  rushes 
back  to  the  base  and  plumps  one  foot  on  it. 

There  is  no  need  for  so  much  exertion,  as  it  hap 
pens,  for  Rainsford's  throw  is  make-believe.  He 
has  only  pretended  to  fling  the  ball.  Whereupon 
he  turns  and  pitches  rapidly. 

"  Go  I  "  holloas  Hackett,  excitedly.     "  Go-o  !  " 

"  Three  balls  !  "  cries  the  umpire. 

Johnson  is  scooting  for  second  at  the  top  of  his 
speed.  Although  the  pitch  was  a  trifle  wild,  the 
padded  gloves  are  in  the  right  place,  and  Chalmers 
slams  it  to  Goldthwaite,  who  claps  it  on  to  Johnson, 
and  holds  up  his  hand  claiming  an  out.  But  Pren- 
dergast,  who  has  rim  forward  nearly  to  the  pitcher's 
box  in  order  to  see  distinctly,  shakes  his  head  and 
waves  Johnson  to  hold  his  base,  amid  deafening 
cheers  from  the  Rogerines,  and  groans  from  the 
Fullhamites. 

Let  me  say  right  here,  boys,  that  the  trick  of 
"downing"  umpires  is  cowardly,  and  smacks  of 
the  blackguard.  Be  careful,  to  begin  with,  whom 
you  select  to  act ;  but  when  your  choice  is  made, 


HASELTINE   MAKES   HIS   DEBUT.  203 

be  men  enough  to  keep  your  temper  and  accept  his 
decisions  without  kicking.  It  has  come  to  be  the 
fashion  among  the  great  crowds  that  attend  base 
ball  matches  over  the  country,  to  abuse  umpires  in 
language  worthy  only  of  Billingsgate,  and  even  to 
threaten  them  with  personal  violence.  It  is  a  mean 
and  contemptible  method  of  bullying  a  man  in  a 
position  where  he  is  powerless  to  defend  himself, 
and  at  a  time  when  he  needs  to  have  all  his  facul 
ties  bent  on  the  game,  and  no  gentleman  will  take 
part  in  it. 

Johnson  holds  his  base,  and  the  kid  prepares  to 
pitch  again. 

"  Four  balls  !  " 

Rainsford  must  be  getting  nervous. 

"  Five  balls  ! " 

This  will  never  do. 

"  Two  strikes  !  " 

Ah,  there  !     Now  or  never  ! 

"  Six  balls  !     Take  your  base." 

Ferguson  trots  leisurely  to  first,  and  his  place  at 
the  diamond  is  filled  by  Plympton,  the  centre  field, 
who  hits  the  first  ball  for  a  clean  single  between 
short  and  second,  letting  in  Johnson,  and  advanc- 


204  JACK   HALL. 

ing  Ferguson  a  base.  The  score  is  tied,  and  the 
hubbub  is  very  disheartening  to  the  backers  of 
Fullham. 

"  Looks  sort  of  sick  for  our  side,"  Jack  hears 
some  one  say  to  Carlisle,  who  is  squatting  not  far 
from  him. 

"  Game 's  young  yet,"  is  the  cheery  answer. 

It  is  Bedloe's  turn  now.  He  advances  confi 
dently,  and  in  imitation  of  Plympton's  example 
lifts  the  first  ball  and  drives  it  to  left  field,  where 
Jackson  gets  under  it,  and  —  sad  to  chronicle  — 
drops  it.  Ferguson  comes  in,  of  course,  and  Plymp- 
ton  too,  although  he  should  have  been  out ;  but 
Chalmers  fails  to  hold  Goldthwaite's  swift  throw 
from  second.  Five  runs  to  three!  Those  muffs 
were  very  costly. 

Bobby  Crosby  hits  an  easy  grounder  to  Hasel- 
tine,  which  the  little  fellow  picks  up  neatly  and 
throws  to  first.  Maitland  holds  it,  and  the  Roger- 
ines  are  out  at  last. 

Jackson  is  at  the  bat  first.  He  hits  hard,  anx 
ious,  doubtless,  to  atone  for  his  error ;  but  Hackett 
is  on  deck  at  second  and  fields  beautifully  to  Ram 
say.  There  is  a  flutter  of  anticipation  as  "Goldy" 


HASELTINE   MAKES  HIS  DEBUT.  205 

steps  to  the  front.  Like  several  of  his  opponents 
he  swipes  at  the  first  ball  pitched.  "  Hurrah ! 
Look  —  look  —  is  it  a  home  run  ?  "  Everybody  is 
on  his  feet  following  the  ball  to  left  field.  Bobby 
Crosby,  there  's  your  chance.  Gently  now,  or  it 
will  be  over  your  head.  It  is  going  faster  than 
it  seems.  Oh,  well  caught,  well  caught,  youngster, 
and  well  judged,  too,  which  is  more  than  half  the 
battle !  Right  over  your  left  shoulder  and  on  the 
full  run,  too !  O-U-T  !  Everybody  is  cheering,  for 
even  Fullham  can  afford  to  applaud  a  play  like  that, 
and  the  Doctor,  shouting  as  loud  as  any  one,  waves 
his  hat  and  cries,  "  Well  caught,  Crosby  ! "  Hard 
luck,  Goldthwaite.  It  was  a  good  crack,  but  not 
quite  elastic  enough.  Who 's  the  next  victim  ? 

It  is  Ogden,  who  pops  up  a  fly  which  falls  into 
Bedloe's  hand,  snug  as  a  bug,  and  the  side  is  out. 

"  Confound  it !  "  says  Horton,  a  sentiment  which 
Jack  echoes  at  heart. 

Ramsay  begins  the  eighth  with  a  single  to  right 
field.  Pousland  goes  out  on  a  foul  tip  once  more. 
Hackett  takes  a  base  on  balls.  Johnson  hits  to 
Jackson  at  left,  who  does  not  muff  this  time.  Fer 
guson,  the  slugger,  swipes  hard  and  misses. 


206  JACK   HALL. 

"  One  strike  !  " 

"Two  strikes!" 

Ramsay  is  on  third  and  Hackett  on  second,  so 
that  if  Ferguson  can  make  a  safe  hit  there  is  a  good 
chance  for  two  more  runs. 

"  F-E-R-G-U-S-O-N !     Ferguson-n-n ! " 

The  kid  examines  the  ball  and  puts  down  his 
head  to  pitch.  The  slugger  does  not  move. 

"  Three  strikes  !  "  cries  the  umpire.    "  Out !  " 

This  is  better,  and  revives  somewhat  the  droop 
ing  courage  of  Fullham.  Carlisle  proposes  three 
cheers  for  the  kid,  which  are  given  with  great 
enthusiasm. 

"  Now,  Maitland,"  says  Chalmers. 

Charley  Maitland  waits  for  two  called  balls  and 
one  strike  before  he  gets  the  one  he  is  hoping  for. 
Then  he  hits  with  all  his  might  a  driver  to  the  in 
ner  centre  field,  where  there  is  no  one  to  catch  it, 
and  takes  his  first.  The  kid,  who  receives  another 
round  of  applause  as  he  steps  to  the  plate,  knocks 
one  to  Johnson  at  short,  who  lets  it  by  him  this 
time. 

There  are  two  on  bases,  Merriman.  A  good 
deal  depends  on  you.  Pshaw  !  straight  into  Ram- 


HASELTINE   MAKES   HIS   DEBUT.  207 

say's  bands.  Run,  Rainsford  ;  run,  if  you  do  not 
wish  to  be  cut  off  at  second.  Safe  !  but  only  just  in 
time.  If  Ramsay  had  not  waited  so  long  you  were 
a  sure  out.  The  Rogerines  are  taking  a  turn  at 
muffing.  Next  striker. 

It  is  our  friend  Haseltine.  He  glances  across  at 
Jack  as  he  goes  in. 

"  One  strike  I "  calls  Prendergast,  though  Hasel 
tine  has  not.  moved. 

"  Don't  get  flustered ;  take  your  time,  young 
ster,"  says  Chalmers  kindly. 

"One  ball!" 

This  gives  the  ex-Rising  Sun  hero  courage. 
Charley  Maitland  and  the  kid  are  edging  off  their 
bases  ready  to  proceed  the  instant  the  ball  leaves 
the  bat. 

All  of  a  sudden  there  is  a  terrific  roar,  and  every 
one  starts  up  again,  craning  forward  to  see  the 
third  base  line. 

"  Run  ! "  bellows  Chalmers  to  Haseltine,  who 
cuts  away  for  first.  But  before  he  reaches  it,  the 
umpire,  who  has  shaded  his  eyes  with  his  hand  so 
as  to  make  no  mistake,  cries  "  Fair  ball !  "  and  on 
Haseltine  dashes  to  second  and  again  to  third. 


208  JACK   HALL. 

Here  Chalmers  stops  him  with  an  emphatic  "  Hold 
your  base ! "  Meanwhile,  Maitland  and  the  kid 
have  come  home.  The  score  is  tied  again,  and  the 
uproar  is  prodigious.  Panting  but  thoroughly 
happy,  Haseltine  waits  at  third,  and  Captain  Chal 
mers  takes  his  turn  at  the  bat. 

We  are  viewing  the  game  through  Jack's  eyes, 
to  whom  every  safe  hit  and  every  good  bit  of  field 
ing  seems  marvelous ;  but  though  the  standard  of 
play  may  be  higher  among  some  of  you  older  boys, 
there  can  be  no  denying  the  absorbing  interest  in 
spired  at  Utopia  by  these  yearly  contests  for  su 
premacy  between  the  respective  dormitories,  second 
only  to  the  occasional  contests  with  nines  from 
other  schools.  The  thrill  felt  by  Jack  as  Chalmers 
takes  his  position  to  strike  is  shared  by  every  one 
of  the  two  hundred  boys  and  their  masters  pres 
ent.  For  by  this  time  there  is  scarcely  a  soul  in 
the  school  who  is  not  a  spectator.  Even  Horace 
Hosmer  is  squatting  at  the  further  end  of  the  field 
beyond  the  possible  reach  of  the  ball,  and  Jack  can 
see  him  clap  his  big  hands  in  honor  of  Haseltine's 
three  bagger. 

But  Chalmers  is  at  the  bat. 


HASELTINE   MAKES   HIS   DEBUT.  209 

"One  ball!" 

Haseltine  evidently  has  it  in  mind  to  try  to  steal 
home,  for  if  Chalmers  does  not  get  his  first  the  side 
will  be  out ;  but  "  Goldy,"  who  has  taken  the  cap 
tain's  place  as  coach,  cautions  him  with  "  Steady 
now,"  and  "  Bide  your  time,  youngster,"  not  to 
stray  too  far  from  the  base. 

"  One  strike  !  " 

Pousland,  the  catcher,  hurls  to  third  to  intimi 
date  Haseltine,  who  dodges  back  in  time  to  get  his 
foot  on  the  bag  before  Ferguson  can  touch  him. 

"  Two  balls !  " 

Well  done,  Chalmers !  Another  shout,  this  time 
louder  and  more  star-striking  than  any  yet  evoked, 
bursts  forth  from  the  Fullhamite  ranks.  There  is 
ample  reason  for  it,  too.  Both  Bobby  Crosby  and 
Plympton  are  in  full  career  after  the  ball,  which  is 
bounding  beyond  them  at  a  fearful  pace.  They  make 
superhuman  efforts  to  overtake  it,  and  Bobby  re 
turns  it  magnificently,  but  to  no  purpose,  for  Chal 
mers  has  made  a  clean  round  of  the  bases  and  is 
safely  home.  As  for  Haseltine,  he  has  trotted  in 
comfortably  and  is  sharing  with  the  captain  hand 
shaking  and  back-slapping  from  a  score  of  palms. 


210  JACK   HALL. 

He  knows  that  the  score  is  now  seven  to  five,  and 
that  he  has  wiped  out  his  early  errors.  His  happi 
ness,  already  complete,  is  made  ecstatic  by  the  con 
gratulations  of  the  Doctor,  who  comes  up  to  him 
just  as  he  is  on  the  point  of  going  over  to  Jack 
and  says,  "You're  beginning  bravely,  Haseltine  ; 
if  you  go  on  at  this  rate  you  will  be  in  training  for 
the  school  nine  before  long." 

"  The  school  nine  !  "  Could  there  be  a  more  en 
viable  compliment  to  a  new  boy  on  his  first  day  at 
Utopia?  He  sees  Mrs.  Meredith  smile  at  him  from 
her  seat  and  clap  her  hands.  He  touches  his  cap 
in  sheepish  fashion,  and  with  cheeks  aflame  is  glad 
to  get  down  beside  Jack  and,  riding  his  bat,  watch 
Hamlen  strike. 

"Ah!" 

This  time  the  cry  of  triumph  is  premature.  The 
ball  goes  afield  grandly,  but  Billy  Douglas  is  under 
it  before  it  falls,  and  Hamlen  makes  the  third 
out. 

The  Rogerines  are  rather  quiet.  They  have  only 
this  inning  in  which  to  win  the  game.  But  the 
nine  is  not  going  to  give  in  without  making  a  hard 
fight  for  it,  you  may  be  certain.  Two  runs  will  tie 


HASELTINE  MAKES   HIS  DEBUT.  211 

and  three  put  them  ahead.  Not  so  very  many  to 
get,  if  fortune  favors  them  and  they  can  work  in  a 
batting  streak. 

Plympton  is  the  first  on  the  list  of  strikers.  He 
is  a  determined-looking  fellow,  with  a  bull-dog  sort 
of  jaw. 

"One  strike!"  cries  the  umpire. 

The  Fullhamites  shout,  but  the  batsman,  what 
ever  his  feelings,  never  winks  an  eye.  He  is  dan 
gerously  cool. 

Whack  !  One  can  hear  the  sound  all  over  the 
field.  The  bat  is  split  as  completely  as  ever  oak 
was  riven  by  the  lightning.  But  now  Rogers  has 
a  right  to  shout.  Another  home  run  just  in  the 
same  place  as  Chalmers',  and  just  as  perfect.  The 
din  is  deafening,  and  the  prospects  for  a  tenth 
inning  look  very  favorable. 

"  One  more  in  the  same  spot  will  tie  them,"  ex 
claims  Hackett,  as  Bedloe  nods  at  the  kid  to  show 
he  is  ready. 

"  One  ball." 

"  Two  balls." 

"  One  strike." 

"  Three  balls." 


212  JACK  HALL. 

"  Four  balls." 

"  Five  balls." 

"  Six  balls  ;  take  your  base." 

Rogers  howls  once  more.  Bedloe  has  a  level 
head,  and  knows  enough  to  play  a  waiting  game. 
Perhaps  he  has  reasoned  that  the  kid  is  young,  and 
may  lose  his  head  in  a  tight  place.  It  looks  a  little 
like  it,  now  ;  if  he  does,  there  are  sluggers  enough 
on  the  nine  to  knock  him  out  of  the  box. 

It  is  Crosby's  turn  next  to  have  a  hack  at  him. 

"  One  ball." 

He  hits  the  second.  It  is  a  scorcher  to  short 
stop,  which  strikes  one  of  Merriman's  feet  and 
bounds  into  the  air.  Merriman  looks  in  one  direc 
tion  and  the  ball  comes  down  in  the  other.  Before 
he  can  collect  himself  Bedloe  is  safe  at  second  and 
Crosby  at  first. 

Now,  Harry  Ramsay,  captain  of  the  school  nine, 
is  your  chance.  A  rattler  from  you  like  that  you 
struck  yesterday,  ought  to  win  the  game.  One 
could  hear  a  pin  drop,  it  is  so  still.  The  excite 
ment  is  almost  painful. 

"  One  ball,"  calls  Prendergast. 

"  One  strike." 


HASELTINE   MAKES   HIS  DEBUT.  213 

"  Ah-h-h ! " 

That  cry  is  because  Bedloe  has  stolen  third  and 
Crosby  second.  Chalmers,  a  little  bewildered  it 
may  be,  has  hesitated  until  too  late  which  to  throw 
to. 

Ramsay  has  hit  the  third  ball.  What  a  paste  ! 
Where  is  it?  Where  has  it  gone?  He  is  tearing 
to  first.  Great  heavens  !  what  is  the  matter  ?  Is 
the  game  'over  ?  Everybody  on  the  Fullham  side 
is  dancing  and  screaming  and  waving  like  mad. 
The  crowd  is  mixing  with  the  players,  and  Crosby 
and  Bedloe  and  Harry  Ramsay  are  coming  in  from 
the  bases  with  a  shamefaced  air. 

"  What  is  it  ?  I  don't  understand,"  asks  Jack 
of  Horton,  who  is  shouting  loud  enough  to  burst 
a  blood-vessel.  Jack  knows  that  Haseltine  has 
stopped  the  ball  and  done  something  big,  but  it 
was  all  so  quick,  he  cannot  quite  make  out  what. 

"  A  triple  play  — all  three  out,"  Horton  answers. 

"  H-A-S-E-L-T-I-N-E  —  Haselti-n-n-n-e  !  " 

A  moment  later  Jack  understands,  it  all.  The 
ball  from  Ramsay's  bat  had  gone  straight  into  Ha- 
seltine's  hands,  and  though  it  had  almost  knocked 
the  little  fellow  over,  he  had  managed  to  hold  it, 


214  JACK   HALL. 

to  step  on  to  third  before  Bedloe,  who  had  started 
for  home,  realized  the  situation,  and  then,  keeping 
his  wits  still  about  him,  put  it  in  to  Goldthwaite,  at 
second,  with  all  his  might,  just  in  time  to  cut  off 
Bobby  Crosby,  who  was  between  the  bases.  Three 
out  —  side  out  at  one  fell  swoop.  Bull  luck,  as  the 
Rogeriues  said,  in  speaking  of  the  game  after 
wards. 

It  was  luck,  of  course,  that  the  ball  went  just 
where  it  did,  making  such  a  combination  possible  ; 
but  many  an  opportunity  in  life,  no  less  favorable 
than  Haseltine's,  is  lost  every  day  by  the  inability 
of  man  or  boy  to  avail  himself  of  it.  The  ex-third 
base  of  the  Rising  Suns  was  equal  to  his  emergency 
when  it  came ;  though,  between  ourselves,  it  was 
always  a  wonder  to  him  that  the  ball  had  stuck  in 
his  hands.  He  had  caught  ifc  before  he  knew  it. 

So  the  dormitory  match  was  over,  and  Fullham 
champion  for  another  year,  by  the  close  score  of 
seven  to  six.  It  was  a  proud  moment  for  Hasel- 
tine  when  Harry  Ramsay,  the  great  school  captain, 
went  out  of  his  way  to  shake  him  by  the  hand  and 
tell  him  that  he  was  sure  to  make  a  strong  player 
in  a  year  or  two.  He  received  quite  an  ovation, 


HASELTINE  MAKES  HIS  DEBUT.  215 

and  made  the  acquaintance  on  the  spot  of  most 
of  his  own  dormitory,  and  many  from  Rogers  and 
Dudley.  Jack  stood  by  thoroughly  satisfied  with 
his  friend's  success  and  proud  to  be  the  bearer  of 
his  jacket.  Really,  to  rejoice  at  another's  triumphs 
is  quite  as  sterling  a  trait  of  character  as  to  bear 
modestly  one's  own. 

As  the  two  boys  were  returning  to  their  dormi 
tory  in  company  with  several  others,  they  were 
overtaken  by  Carlisle,  who,  after  a  few  words  of 
congratulation  on  Haseltine's  play,  brought  a  host 
of  fears,  which  the  excitement  of  the  afternoon  had 
banished,  back  to  the  minds  of  both  of  them  by 
observing  in  a  low  tone,  — 

"  I  'm  sorry  to  say  Jack  Spratt  and  his  Wife  will 
be  all  the  more  down  on  you  after  this.  They  are 
Rogerines,  and  it 's  the  cockiest  thing  a  new  boy 
has  done  for  a  dog's  age." 

This  was  very  depressing,  and  took  the  edge  de 
cidedly  off  the  happy  frame  of  mind  in  which  they 
would  fain  have  remained.  The  game  had  con 
sumed  most  of  the  afternoon.  There  was  an  hour 
and  a  half  of  recitation  remaining  before  supper,  the 
practice  at  Utopia  being  to  have  recitations  from 


216  JACK  HALL. 

nine  until  half-past  twelve,  and  from  half-past  four 
until  six,  during  all  but  the  last  two  months  of  the 
school  year,  in  order  to  let  the  boys  have  the  best 
hours  of  sunshine  on  the  playground.  In  another 
week  the  rule  was  to  change,  and  study  would  fol 
low  dinner,  as  the  afternoons  were  growing  long 
and  favorable  for  sport. 

When  supper  was  done  there  was  singing  twice 
a  week,  and  this  was  one  of  the  evenings.  All  the 
school  gathered  informally  in  the  big  schoolroom, 
where,  sitting  round  anyhow  and  anywhere,  masters 
and  boys  mingled  together,  chatted,  and  listened  to 
songs  supervised  by  the  singing-master,  Mr.  French, 
but  entirely  spontaneous.  After  the  singing  was 
over,  there  was  a  short  lee-way  before  bedtime,  and 
every  one  was  left  to  his  own  devices.  Most  of  the 
boys  went  back  to  their  dormitories,  but  the  sixth 
class  had  the  run  of  Mrs.  Meredith's  parlor  during 
half  an  hour,  where  there  were  quiet  games  and 
puzzles  of  various  kinds  to  amuse  them. 

In  returning  to  Fullham  from  this  last-named  en 
tertainment,  it  was  necessary,  of  course,  to  traverse 
the  quadrangle.  When  Jack  and  Haseltine  were 
about  fifty  yards  from  Granger,  proceeding  without 


HASELTINE   MAKES   HIS   DEBUT.  217 

suspicions,  .they  became  suddenly  aware  of  several 
figures  in  masks  and  long  cloaks,  looming  up  ahead. 
At  the  same  moment  their  feet  were  tripped  up 
from  behind,  a  rope  quickly  and  strenuously  twisted 
around  their  bodies,  and  a  large  hand  compressed 
upon  each  of  their  mouths.  They  had  no  time  to 
cry  out.  After  a  few  frantic,  futile  efforts  to  get 
free,  Jack  ceased  to  struggle,  and  permitted  himself 
to  be  bound  by  his  captors,  whom  he  assumed  with 
a  sinking  heart  to  be  no  other  than  the  notorious 
Spratt  and  Wife.  A  bandage  had  been  fastened 
over  his  eyes  almost  immediately,  and,  helpless  as 
a  dead  man,  he  was  borne  along  in  silence  for  a  con 
siderable  distance,  as  it  seemed  to  him,  at  a  slow 
jog  trot.  Presently  the  procession  stopped,  con 
fronted  by  some  obstacle,  and  Jack  was  able  to  dis 
tinguish  the  voice  of  Carlisle  remonstrating  with  his 
persecutors.  He  heard  him  say  distinctly,  "  They 
are  good  fellows,  both  of  them,  I  assure  you ;  let 
them  off  this  time." 

"  They  're  too  beastly  cocky,"  was  the  reply,  in  a 
shrill,  hyena-like  tone. 

"  That 's  so,"  broke  in  another  with  a  no  less 
bloodthirsty  modulation,  whom  Jack  judged  to  be 


218  JACK   HALL. 

Wifey.  "  I  vote  we  smash  every  bone  in  their 
bodies." 

"  On  to  the  torture  chamber,"  continued  the  first 
speaker,  a  sentiment  which  was  received  with  an 
approving  Ah-h-h  !  by  the  others  present. 

"I've  done  all  I  could  to  save  them,"  observed 
Carlisle,  with  a  gloomy  sigh  of  resignation. 

Jack,  who  had  been  laid  upon  the  ground  during 
this  interlude,  now  felt  himself  being  carried  up  a 
flight  of  winding  stairs  and  along  a  corridor,  to  an 
apartment  where,  after  some  whispering  on  the  part 
of  those  about  him,  he  perceived  that  he  was  being 
lowered  into  a  narrow  box.  This,  it  suddenly  oc 
curred  to  him,  was  a  coffin.  A  fear  which  brought 
the  perspiration  out  in  cold  patches  seized  him.  At 
its  height  the  cover  was  pressed  down,  and  he  was 
left  to  his  own  gloomy  reflections,  which  included 
the  expectation  of  stifling.  But  though  the  space 
was  contracted  and  the  air  hot,  he  experienced  no 
real  difficulty  in  drawing  breath. 

Here  he  lay  for  what  seemed  an  eternity,  listen 
ing  to  the  preparations  which  were  evidently  going 
on  around  him.  He  could  hear  the  hum  of  conver 
sation  and  occasionally  a  smothered  laugh,  but  the 


HASELTINE  MAKES   HIS   DEBUT.  219 

voices  bad  all  the  shrill,  fiendish  pitch  of  those 
which  had  replied  to  Carlisle's  protestations.  What 
were  they  going  to  do  with  him?  Was  he  dead 
already,  and  was  this  his  funeral  ?  He  stirred  one 
of  his  legs  a  little  and  pinched  himself  to  make  sure 
that  he  was  alive.  Yes,  he  was  still  in  the  flesh. 
The  torture,  then,  was  yet  to  come.  Well,  what 
ever  happened,  he  would  die  bravely.  Not  a  groan, 
not  a  cry.  for  mercy,  would  he  utter.  He  would  be 
game  to  the  last,  and  his  tormentors  should  not  have 
the  satisfaction  of  seeing  him  funk  while  they  were 
breaking  his  bones.  A  tear  did  come  to  his  eye  as 
he  thought  of  his  mother,  and  how  she  would  miss 
him  ;  but  he  braced  his  nerves  as  he  felt  it  trick 
ling,  unwilling  to  be  guilty  of  weakness,  even  under 
the  shelter  of  the  coffin-lid. 

At  this  moment  he  was  lifted,  box  and  all,  and 
placed  on  what  might  be  a  table.  Immediately  the 
cover  was  raised,  and  in  spite  of  his  bandage  the 
fact  that  the  room  was  lighted  became  apparent  to 
him,  while  a  low  chorus  of  groans  suggestive  of  ani 
mals  eager  to  slake  their  thirst  in  human  blood  vi 
brated  on  his  imaginative  and  frenzied  hearing. 
Then  there  was  a  hush  preliminary  to  the  dreadful 


220  JACK  HALL. 

remark  which  proceeded  from  the  foot  of  the  coffin, 
"Are  the  irons  red-hot?" 

"  They  are,  your  Mightiness." 

"  Let  the  neophyte's  arm  be  bared." 

Jack,  though  ignorant  as  to  the  meaning  of  the 
word  neophyte,  did  not  doubt  for  an  instant  that 
he  was  referred  to.  He  was  seized  straightway 
on  either  side  and  raised  to  a  sitting  posture.  The 
rope  was  unbound  from  his  right  arm  and  those  in 
charge  of  him  were  about  to  roll  up  the  sleeve  of  his 
jacket,  when  the  voice  of  his  Mightiness  enjoined, — 

"Let  the  left  be  seared  instead  of  the  right,  for 
in  case  the  neophyte  chance  to  survive  the  opera 
tion  he  will  thus  not  be  disabled  in  his  base-ball 
arm.  It  is  fitting  that  rnercy  should  temper  jus 
tice." 

This  piece  of  executive  clemency  was  scarcely 
reassuring  to  poor  Jack,  for  the  reason  that  there 
was  evidently  occasion  to  believe  that  he  would  not 
outlive  the  torture  about  to  be  inflicted  on  him. 
He  gritted  his  teeth  to  avoid  trembling,  and  tried 
to  show  no  signs  of  fear,  while  the  assistants  bared 
his  forearm  well  up  to  the  elbow.  Just  when  they 
had  completed  their  task  there  came  a  loud  knock 


HASELTINE   MAKES   HIS   DEBUT.  221 

at  the  door,  and  whoever  went  to  answer  it  an 
nounced,  after  a  moment's  delay,  with  a  chuckle  of 
exultation,  "  The  other  neophyte  is  dead." 

A  savage  yell  of  pleasure  followed  this  announce 
ment,  which  was  a  dagger,  as  it  were,  in  the  bosom 
of  our  hero.  Haseltine  dead  !  He  had  been  tor 
tured,  doubtless,  in  another  chamber  and  had  not 
been  able  to  endure  the  agony. 

But  .there  was  no  time  for  reflection.  A  power 
ful  wrist  had  grasped  his  arm  and  was  holding 
it  out  at  full  length.  Then  something  which  felt 
like  a  glowing  coal  was  pressed  down  on  it  with 
force  and  imbedded  in  his  flesh.  Jack  knew  that  it 
was  the  red-hot  iron.  The  pain  was  terrible  and 
he  was  tempted  to  cry  out,  but  by  biting  his  lips 
he  managed  to  restrain  himself.  Somehow  or  other 
the  suffering  did  not  increase  after  the  first  few 
moments,  and  as  he  was  wondering  at  the  circum 
stance  he  was  astounded  to  hear,  "  Let  me  go ! 
let  me  go !  "  uttered  in  a  voice  of  agony  close  at 
hand.  The  conviction  that  it  was  Haseltine's  voice 
eclipsed  the  consciousness  of  pain,  and  in  another 
instant  his  arm  was  let  go,  the  bandage  snatched 
from  his  eyes,  and  Jack  found  himself  in  a  blaze  of 


222  JACK  HALL. 

light,  surrounded  by  a  host  of  laughing  counte 
nances  which  greeted  him  with  a  roar  of  laughter. 

At  first  he  was  completely  dazed  and  unable  to 
credit  his  senses  ;  then,  as  he  gradually  took  in  the 
situation,  he  perceived  that  he  was  sitting  upright 
in  an  old  shoe  box  lined  with  a  shawl  and  supported 
by  a  table.  Not  more  than  a  yard  away  sat  Hasel- 
tine  in  a  similar  predicament,  with  his  left  sleeve 
rolled  up,  and  looking  extremely  sheepish.  On  a 
throne  —  an  arm-chair  surmounting  a  pile,  the 
component  parts  of  which  were  concealed  by  a 
table-cloth  —  was  perched  Jack  Spratt,  wearing  a 
paper  crown,  bearing  a  cricket  bat  as  a  sceptre, 
and  sharing  royalty  with  Wifey  at  his  side  in  fe 
male  attire,  intended  to  simulate  a  queen,  but  sug 
gesting  to  practiced  eyes  a  gown  borrowed  for  this 
occasion  only  from  Mrs.  Betty  Martin.  A  row  of 
Apollinaris  bottles,  in  each  of  which  was  a  lighted 
candle,  blazed  along  the  edge  of  the  dais,  at  either 
wing  of  which  stood  a  score  of  schoolboys  shaking 
with  merriment  at  the  appearance  of  the  two  un 
fortunates. 

Jack's  first  reflection  was  one  of  self -congratula 
tion  that  he  had  not  cried  out.  Then  it  occurred  to 


HASELTINE   MAKES   HIS   DEBUT.  223 

him  to  glance  at  bis  arm,  a  proceeding  which  was 
the  cause  of  another  burst  of  laughter.  To  his  sur 
prise,  there  was  no  mark  of  any  sort  beyond  a 
slight  redness  which  was  scarcely  noticeable.  But 
his  skin  looked  somewhat  wet,  as  though  water  had 
been  brought  in  contact  with  it. 

After  a  moment,  his  Mightiness,  having  induced 
silence  by  a  wave  of  his  sceptre,  exclaimed  with 
great  seriousness,  "  The  chief  executioner  will  read 
the  indictment  against  the  neophytes." 

Whereupon,  to  Jack's  intense  surprise,  that  func 
tionary  stepped  forward  in  the  person  of  Louis  Car 
lisle,  fantastically  attired  in  a  black  Oxford  gown 
and  carrying  a  meat  chopper  as  the  symbol  of  his 
office.  Having  bowed  to  their  majesties,  he  gravely 
drew  forth  a  manuscript  and  addressed  the  two 
bewildered  lads  as  follows  :  — 

"  Know  all  men  by  these  presents,  that  you,  John 
Hall,  of  Boston,  Massachusetts,  and  you,  Frank  Ha- 
seltine,  of  St.  Louis,  Missouri,  are  greener  than  the 
grass  when  it  flourisheth  in  the  early  days  of  sum 
mer,  fresher  than  paint  just  after  it  is  spread  on 
the  door  of  a  mansion,  more  guileless  than  the  kid 
which  gambols  in  the  pasture  beside  its  female 


224  JACK   HALL. 

parent.  You  have  been  sent  here  with  your  mouths 
wide  open  and  ready  to  swallow  anything  that  is 
stuffed  into  them.  Such  innocence  is  praiseworthy 
in  the  extremely  youthful,  but  a  time  comes  in  the 
experience  of  us  all  when  it  is  meet  to  be  unde 
ceived  even  at  the  expense  of  dire  mortification. 

"  Learn  of  me  and  be  wise.  Firstly  and  fore- 
mostly,  you  have  been  made  sport  of  —  victimized  — 
fooled,  or,  to  speak  more  succinctly,  sold.  You  have 
been  made  egregious  asses  of,  and  led  to  believe 
that  you  were  to  be  the  victims  of  physical  vio 
lence,  to  have  your  bones  broken,  your  heads 
punched,  and  what  not.  You  expected  to  be  hazed 
and  we  did  not  like  to  disappoint  you ;  hence  the 
midnight  seizure,  the  rope,  the  bandage,  the  coffin, 
the  red-hot  iron,  the  branding.  You  have  been 
taught  to  tremble  at  the  blood-curdling  names  of 
Jack  Spratt  and  Wifey.  Behold  them  in  the  flesh 
and  bow  before  them. !  You  came  here  stuffed  with 
old  women's  yarns,  and  Horace  Hosmer  has  loaded 
you  up  to  the  muzzle  with  a  fresh  supply.  Poor 
little  lambkins!  " 

As  Carlisle  paused  in  his  sarcastic  peroration  the 
audience  broke  into  another  shout  of  laughter, 


HASELTINE   MAKES   HIS   DEBUT.  225 

•which  caused  Jack  to  blush  vividly.  He  appreci 
ated  now  for  the  first  moment  that  he  had  been  the 
victim  of  a  huge  practical  joke. 

"  Secondly,"  continued  the  orator,  with  a  wave  of 
his  hand,  "  let  whoever  will  search  the  universe 
from  one  end  to  the  other,  and  I  defy  him  to  pro 
duce  two  more  thoroughly  mild  and  amiable  speci 
mens  of  the  genus  homo  than  Tobey  and  Donald 
son,  who"  have  been  made  to  figure  as  monsters  of 
cruelty  for  your  edification.  In  justice  to  them, 
neophytes,  I  bid  you  approach  them.  Exhume 
yourselves,  so  to  speak,  and  go  up  to  examine 
them.  You  will  perceive  that  they  are  perfectly 
harmless,  and  even  unusually  good-natured  fellows. 
You  may  touch  them  without  fear  that  one  of  your 
bones  will  be  dislocated.  Approach,  neophytes, 
they  are  prepared  to  embrace  you." 

Again  everybody  laughed,  while  Jack  and  Hasel- 
tine  looked  at  one  another,  at  a  loss,  not  unnatu 
rally,  to  know  whether  the  order  to  leave  their 
coffins  was  to  be  taken  seriously.  But  this  uncer 
tainty  was  solved  when  his  Mightiness  reiterated, 
at  the  same  time  removing  his  crown  and  assuming 
an  exaggerated  expression  of  meekness,  "Approach, 
neophytes,  we  are  prepared  to  embrace  you." 


226  JACK  HALL. 

In  a  shamefaced  manner,  but  doing  their  best 
to  enjoy  the  laugh  against  themselves,  which  now 
made  the  room  ring,  the  two  boys  clambered  down 
from  their  boxes  and  walked  toward  the  throne. 
Its  grinning  occupants  sat  for  a  moment  enjoying 
the  confusion  evinced  by  the  poor  lads  before  them, 
then  Jack  Spratt  put  out  his  hand  and  said,  — 

"  Shake,  neophytes.  My  bark  is  worse  than  my 
bite." 

"  Me,  too,"  piped  Donaldson,  in  semblance  to  a 
female  falsetto,  which  elicited  a  roar. 

"Thirdly  and. lastly,"  exclaimed  Carlisle,  after 
Jack  and  Haseltine  had  finished  this  hand-shaking 
and  been  relegated  to  their  coffins,  on  the  edge  of 
which  they  were  permitted  to  sit,  —  "thirdly  and 
lastly,"  he  repeated,  "  there  is  a  moral  to  all  this, 
without  which  our  efforts  in  your  behalf  might  be 
misunderstood,  and  that  is,  don't  be  too  English. 
You  boys  —  for  I  address  you  no  longer  as  neo 
phytes,  but  as  Utopia  boys  —  must  get  out  of  your 
heads  that  an  American  school  is  just  like  an  Eng 
lish  one,  for  it  isn't.  You've  come  with  the  idea 
that  we  have  fagging  and  hazing  and  all  that  sort 
of  thing,  but  it 's  a  mistake.  There  is  n't  a  fag  at 


HASELTINE   MAKES   HIS   DEBUT.  227 

Utopia,  and  if  a  big  boy  wants  anything  done  he 
has  to  do  it  himself.  Every  tub  stands  on  its  own 
bottom  here,  and  a  sixth-class  boy  is  just  as  good 
as  a  first.  No  running  errands  —  no  cleaning  out 
studies  —  no  cuffing !  That  may  be  English  ;  but 
it  isn't  American,  is  it,  fellows?" 

"  Not  much,"  answered  several  voices. 

"  We  're  all  equals  here.  There  may  be  a  bully 
or  two,  —  I  don't  say  there  is,  —  but  there  may  be 
in  any  school.  There 's  no  system  of  bullying, 
though,  and  no  boy  thinks  he  has  the  right  to 
order  others  round.  If  he  tried  it  on  he  'd  soon 
find  out  his  mistake." 

"  That 's  so." 

"And  now,  fellows,"  continued  Carlisle,  whose 
satirical  tone  had  changed  to  a  pleasant  seriousness, 
"  I  tell  Hall  and  Haseltine,  in  all  our  names,  that 
we  're  glad  to  have  them  at  Utopia  ;  and  some  day 
they'll  bring  credit  on  the  school,  for  they  are 
both  plucky  boys.  Hall  didn't  whimper  once  to 
night  ;  he  was  game  from  the  word  '  go ' ;  and  we 
Fullhamites  haven't  forgotten  that  triple  play  of 
Haseltine's,  and  we  shan't  for  a  good  while  to 
come." 


228  JACK  HALL. 

Whereupon  the  chief  executioner,  having  divested 
himself  of  his  robe  of  office,  emphasized  the  plaudits 
of  the  roomful  of  boys  by  coming  forward  in  easy, 
smiling  fashion  to  grasp  the  two  victims  of  his 
oratory  by  the  hand,  in  which  example  he  was 
being  followed  by  every  one,  when  a  knock  at  the 
door  introduced  Mr.  Sawyer,  the  dormitory  master, 
who  had  come  to  ascertain  the  cause  of  the  merri 
ment.  He  stood  on  the  threshold  looking  round 
the  small  study  —  it  was  Carlisle's  own  —  packed 
with  boys,  quite  unable,  it  was  evident,  to  explain 
the  signification  of  the  boxes,  blacking-bottles,  and 
various  paraphernalia  of  royalty  which  met  his 
sight.  Some  of  the  participants  seemed  rather  dis 
concerted  by  his  appearance,  but  there  was  a  gen 
eral  disposition  to  laugh,  and  one  boy  exclaimed, — 

"  You  ought  to  have  heard  Carlisle,  Mr.  Sawyer; 
he  was  really  as  good  as  Dr.  Meredith." 

This  necessitated  an  unfolding  of  the  whole  affair, 
which  was  listened  to  somewhat  dubiously  until  it 
appeared  to  the  master's  satisfaction  that  no  real 
harm  had  been  done,  and  that  the  moral  deduced 
to  justify  the  high  jinks  was  not  without  its  value. 
Mr.  Sawyer  was  fain  to  laugh  himself  at  the  vil- 


HASELTINE   MAKES   HIS    DEBUT.  229 

lainous  traits  ascribed  to  Spratt  and  his  Wife,  and 
took  occasion  to  clinch  the  lesson  imparted  by  say 
ing,  as  he  patted  Jack  on  the  head  by  way  of 
sympathy  for  his  discomfiture, — 

"  So  you  expected  to  be  a  fag,  did  you,  my  little 
man  ?  We  have  nothing  of  that  sort  here,  you  may 
take  my  word  for  it.  Come,"  he  added,  "  it  is  time 
for  prayers  and  bed." 

While  they  were  undressing,  half  an  hour  later, 
Haseltine  whispered  to  Homer,  "What  was  it  they 
put  on  my  arm  which  stung  so  ?  " 

"  A  lump  of  ice,  you  loony." 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

SETTLING   DOWN. 

THE  remaining  weeks  of  the  school  year  passed 
very  rapidly  with  Jack.  Indeed,  before  he  had  be 
come  accustomed  to  his  new  life  they  were  gone. 
After  Carlisle's  peroration  the  two  new-comers 
were  allowed  to  drop  into  the  obscurity  which 
befits  small  boys,  and  to  find  their  natural  level 
among  their  associates.  They  made  friends  easily, 
and  Jack  in  his  letters  home  described  Utopia  in 
glowing  terms.  The  lack  of  a  wherry  of  his  own 
seemed  to  be  the  only  drawback  to  his  happiness. 
So  picturesquely  did  he  lay  this  want  before  his 
mother  that  she  wrote  back  that  if  he  made  a  fair 
showing  in  the  way  of  scholarship  by  the  end  of 
the  term  he  should  have  one,  with  the  consent  of 
Dr.  Meredith.  Poor  Jack  little  knew  his  own  pro 
pensities  in  imagining  that  he  would  find  slight 
difficulty  in  fulfilling  this  condition. 

But  as  there  were  several  wherries  belonging  to 


SETTLING   DOWN.  231 

the  school,  he  was  able  within  a  very  short  time  to 
gratify  his  ambition  to  handle  the  sculls.  He  and 
Horton  went  down  to  the  lake  before  breakfast  one 
mom  ing,  especially  to  engage  two  crack  boats  for 
the  afternoon,  as  there  was  a  great  demand  for 
them  at  this  time  of  the  year.  Jack  started  off 
confidently,  hoping  to  dazzle  the  occupants  of  the 
float  by  the  knowingness  of  his  style,  but  at  the 
third  stroke  caught  a  crab  which  nearly  upset  him 
and  made  him  extremely  cautious  henceforwai'd. 
After  paddling  about  a  little  he  managed  to  get 
the  knack  of  keeping  his  balance  in  the  cranky 
concern,  but  he  had  to  own  to  himself  that  he 
knew  very  little  about  rowing,  and  must  begin  to 
learn  all  over  again. 

This  was  rather  a  come-down  for  Jack,  but  he 
was  not  alone  in  his  discomfiture.  In  spite  of 
Hasel tine's  brilliant  performance  against  Rogers, 
his  place  on  the  Fullham  nine  was  filled  by  con 
valescent  players,  and  he  had  to  endure  the  morti 
fication  of  becoming  one  of  the  herd  who  practiced 
scrub.  It  galled  his  pride  to  be  unattached.  That 
the  ex -third  base  of  the  Rising  Suns  should  be 
shunted  off  to  find  equals  among  the  mass  on  the 


232  JACK  HALL. 

practice-field  wounded  him  to  the  quick.  However, 
he  went  in  hammer  and  tongs  to  improve  his  game, 
with  a  determination  to  be  satisfied  with  nothing 
short  of  the  captaincy  of  the  school-team  at  last. 
It  did  not  take  him  long  to  convince  the  younger 
boys  that  he  was  an  authority  on  base-ball  matters. 
He  knew  the  standing  of  every  team,  and  the  record 
of  every  player  in  the  country,  and  once  a  week 
he  received  from  home  a  newspaper  devoted  to  the 
interests  of  the  national  game,  every  item  in  which 
he  could  repeat  by  rote. 

There  is  a  certain  number  of  people  who  argue 
that  it  makes  very  little  difference  after  all  whether 
a  boy  studies  at  school  or  not,  provided  he  is  turned 
out  at  the  end  of  the  curriculum  an  upright,  honor 
able  gentleman,  with  a  clean  mind,  a  manly  tone, 
and  generous  instincts.  While,  us  between  the  at 
ternatives  of  inferior  training  in  the  way  of  books 
and  neglect  of  the  moral  character,  one  could 
scarcely  hesitate  which  to  avoid,  the  parent  con 
tent  to  have  his  or  her  son  graduate  merely  a  good- 
natured,  well-mannered,  easy-going  athlete  has 
sadly  misconceived  the  proper  relation  between 
master  and  pupil.  Indeed,  it  may  be  said  that 


SETTLING   DOWN.  233 

nothing  can  be  more  deplorable  than  a  system  of 
education  which  does  not  stimulate  excellence  in 
scholarship,  unless  it  be  one  that  promotes  it  at 
the  expense  of  high  principle.  We  often  hear  it 
said  that  the  chief  benefit  of  school  or  college  is 
the  effect  on  character.  Very  good ;  but  surely  it 
is  no  error  to  maintain  that  the  character  of  the 
boy  untrained  to  use  his  mind  intelligently  is  not 
highly  to  .be  extolled.  This  idea,  boys,  of  becom 
ing  easy-going  and  nothing  else  is  a  very  unfortu 
nate  one  to  entertain,  especially  in  our  country, 
where  every  man  is  expected  to  contribute  in  some 
way  toward  making  the  world  more  civilized,  and 
a  sweeter,  happier  place  to  live  in.  We  need  to 
day  the  services  of  keen,  disciplined  minds  in  ac 
tive  life,  and  in  its  quiet  walks  those  who  love 
learning  for  her  own  sake,  and  are  ready  to  devote 
patient  days  to  the  pursuit  of  ripe  scholarship. 

Fortunately  for  Jack  —  though  he  was  slow  to 
think  it  fortunate  —  Dr.  Meredith  was  determined 
to  have  as  few  dunces  as  possible  at  Utopia.  He 
was  a  fine  scholar  himself,  and  had  to  help  him  a 
corps  of  enthusiastic  instructors,  most  of  them  men 
fresh  from  some  university.  Experience  had  al- 


234  JACK  HALL. 

ready  taught  him  that  chronic  idleness  and  dislike 
for  study  cannot  be  cured  in  a  fortnight.  Hence 
he  and  his  assistants  were  content  to  peg  away  at 
incorrigible  pupils  without  expecting  to  work  won 
ders  all  at  once,  but  never  yielding  an  inch  nor  los 
ing  ground  once  gained. 

This  studying  business  was  the  only  part  of  the 
school  programme  which  Jack  did  not  thoroughly 
enjoy.  He  started  off  in  his  old  way  by  merely 
glancing  at  his  lessons  and  floundering  through 
them  as  best  he  could,  never  doubting  that  after  a 
lecture  or  two  on  the  subject  of  idleness,  he  would 
be  permitted  to  lag  along  at  the  foot  of  the  class 
without  remark.  He  was  used  to  being  brought 
up  with  a  round  turn  once  a  month  or  so,  and  after 
the  scolding  was  over  knew  that  he  was  safe  to 
relapse  until  the  next  time.  But  he  could  count 
on  that  comfortable  condition  of  affairs  no  longer. 
The  continual  pegging  away  referred  to,  of  which 
he  was  now  the  victim,  was  inexpressibly  irritating. 
His  masters  —  he  had  a  different  one  in  almost 
every  study  —  excited  both  his  resentment  and  his 
wonder  by  patiently  trying  to  make  him  take  an 
interest  in  his  tasks.  Instead  of  being  ordered  in 


SETTLING  DOWN.  235 

a  peremptory  tone  to  "  sit  down,"  after  an  egre 
gious  mistake,  he  was  kept  upon  his  feet  and  not 
only  told  the  answer  (generally  from  the  lips  of 
some  other  boy),  but  asked  to  repeat  it,  and  to 
remember  it  too  at  the  next  recitation.  This  was 
harassing,  especially  so  when  he  found  himself 
obliged  to  spend  part  of  the  afternoon  in  the  school 
room  instead  of  on  the  playground,  because  he 
persisted  -in  considering  his  lessons  of  no  account. 
His  little  soul  was  fairly  in  a  ferment  of  indigna 
tion.  What  was  the  use  of  study,  he  would  ask 
himself.  As  for  books,  he  would  be  glad  for  his 
part  never  to  see  another,  unless,  of  course,  one  of 
adventures  on  the  sea  or  in  the  far  West.  Would 
Latin  or  arithmetic  make  him  a  better  oar  or  a 
surer  short-stop  ?  Not  a  bit  of  it,  he  was  certain 
of  that;  and  so,  masters  or  no  masters,  he  was  dis 
posed  to  let  his  lessons  slide. 

Accordingly,  Mrs.  Hall  was  made  to  feel  badly 
by  receiving,  soon  after  Jack  went  home  for  vaca 
tion,  a  report  of  his  progress  as  a  scholar  very  far 
from  satisfactory,  accompanied  by  a  few  lines  from 
Dr.  Meredith,  calling  attention  to  the  fact  that  her 
son  was  inclined  to  be  lazy,  and  urging  her  to  use 


236  JACK   HALL. 

her  influence  to  correct  this  failing.  She  did,  and 
so  persuasively,  that  Jack  promised  with  sobs  —  and 
he  was  thoroughly  penitent  —  to  turn  over  a  new 
leaf  when  he  went  back.  He  got  his  wherry,  too, 
in  spite  of  not  deserving  it,  for  his  mother  had  not 
the  heart  to  disappoint  him,  which  gives  one  the 
opportunity  to  suggest  that  perhaps  Jack  had  been 
a  little  spoiled  ever  since  he  was  a  baby.  How 
ever,  if  our  mothers  did  not  make  light  of  and 
forgive  our  shortcomings,  who  would?  Neverthe 
less,  I  think  he  had  been  sent  to  Utopia  School 
none  too  soon  for  his  welfare. 

There  were  changes,  of  course,  when  he  returned 
in  the  autumn.  Harry  Ramsay,  Bedloe,  and 
Goldthwaite  of  the  nine,  Burbank  captain  of  the  fif 
teen,  and  Hazelhurst  the  champion  oar,  were  gone 
and  their  places  as  leaders  filled  by  others.  Bobby 
Crosby  was,  on  the  whole,  cock  of  the  school,  being 
captain  of  the  foot-ball  team  and  a  rousing  fellow 
generally.  The  kid,  who  was  only  in  the  second, 
had  been  promoted  to  pitch  for  the  school  nine, 
and  Chalmers  the  old  captain  of  Fullham  had  suc 
ceeded  Harry  Ramsay,  which  left  two  vacancies  on 
the  dormitory  nine,  for  one  of  which  —  right  field 


SETTLING  DOWN.  237 

—  Haseltine  was  selected,  an  unusual  honor  for  so 
young  a  player. 

Both  he  and  Jack  felt  quite  like  old  boys  in  com 
ing  back  as  members  of  the  fifth  class,  and  entered 
upon  the  new  year  in  the  best  of  spirits.  Foot-ball 
was  the  school  game  just  now,  at  which  neither  of 
them  was  slow  in  acquiring  some  proficiency. 
Early  in  November  the  autumn  athletic  meeting 
was  to  take  place,  and  there  was  much  training 
among  the  competitors  for  the  various  events. 
The  school  interest  which  had  been  much  exercised 
over  the  two-hundred  yard  dash  waned  greatly, 
however,  when  it  became  known  that  Louis  Car 
lisle  had  withdrawn,  thereby  giving  a  walk-over 
(according  to  the  general  opinion)  to  Coleman, 
Junior.  Rumor  was  loud  in  some  quarters  in  de 
scribing  Carlisle's  action  as  a  "  squawk,"  and  Jack 
found  difficulty  in  understanding  the  reasons  which 
the  champion  gave  for  his  refusal  to  run. 

It  is  not  easy  to  explain  the  origin  of  friendships, 
but  ever  since  the  evening  when  Jack  had  acted  so 
pluckily  in  not  crying  out  when  he  felt  what  he  be 
lieved  to  be  the  branding-iron  on  his  arm,  Carlisle 
had  shown  an  interest  in  him.  If  this  were  not 


238  JACK   HALL. 

the  cause  that  had  attracted  the  older  to  the  new 
boy,  it  may  have  been  the  lack  of  jealousy  which 
our  hero  had  showed  at  Haseltine's  success  against 
the  Rogerines.  At  any  rate,  for  some  reason  or 
other  Carlisle  had  taken  to  him  from  the  very  first, 
evincing  a  liking  by  superintending  Jack's  rowing 
on  the  lake  ;  asking  him  to  walk  on  Sunday  after 
noons  ;  and,  now  that  as  a  member  of  the  second 
class  he  had  a  study  to  himself,  by  inviting  his 
young  crony  to  share  its  comforts  whenever  he 
might  see  fit  to  do  so.  The  good  will  thus  shown 
was  duly  appreciated,  and  the  intimacy  between 
them  became  marked  and  firmly  established. 

At  first  Jack  was  chiefly  absorbed  by  and  grateful 
for  the  instruction  in  the  way  of  handling  the  oars, 
and  of  making  progress  in  the  various  sports  in 
which  he  was  interested,  which  he  received  from 
his  new  friend,  so  that  he  thought  of  very  little 
else ;  but  he  found  it  pleasant,  nevertheless,  to  es-« 
tablish  himself  from  time  to  time  in  Carlisle's  cosy 
apartment  and  listen  to  his  mentor  prattle  on  about 
whatever  happened  to  be  in  his  mind  at  the  mo 
ment.  Carlisle  had  a  way  of  ignoring  the  young 
ster's  presence  and  of  talking  as  though  he  were 


SETTLING  DOWN.  23D 

all  alone,  merely  appealing  to  Jack  in  much  the 
same  way  as  one  will  appeal  to  an  imaginary  sec 
ond  self,  not  expecting  an  answer.  Indeed,  Jack 
was  quite  incapable  of  answering  the  conundrums 
proposed  to  him  in  this  manner,  and  much  of  what 
he  listened  to  was  very  perplexing  to  him.  He  en 
joyed  it,  however,  though  he  found  it  very  difficult 
to  understand  how  anybody  could  spend  so  much 
time  over .  books  and  study  as  Carlisle  did.  His 
amazement  found  voice  when,  early  in  the  term, 
Carlisle  announced  his  intention  not  to  try  for  the 
school  nine,  and  to  knock  off  from  exercise  of  every 
sort  except  a  daily  row  on  the  lake  to  keep  himself 
in  condition. 

"  What,  not  go  in  training  for  any  of  the  run 
ning  races  ?  "  asked  Jack. 

"No." 

"  Why  not?     You  're  sure  to  win." 

"  I  think  I  am,"  Carlisle  answered,  with  a  smile. 
"  There's  no  one  that  I  know  of  who's  come  up 
since  last  year." 

"  There 's  Coleman,  Junior,"  said  Jack  doubtfully. 
He  did  not  suspect  his  friend  of  funking,  but  the 
remark  popped  out  in  spite  of  himself. 


240  JACK   HALL. 

"  Yes,  I  know.  Some  of  the  fellows  will  say 
I'm  scared.  Well,  let  them.  I  don't  care.  As 
I  've  told  you  before,  Jessup  will  beat  Coleman,  if 
nothing  happens.  I  can't  afford  to  waste  my  time 
merely  to  please  a  few  fellows." 

Jack  could  not  understand  speaking  of  winning 
the  championship  of  Utopia  on  the  running  track 
as  a  waste  of  time. 

"Shan't  you  kick  foot-ball  either?"  he  went 
on. 

"No;  I  Ve  had  my  fill  of  games  for  the  present," 
Carlisle  answered,  in  his  soliloquizing  way.  "  I  've 
made  up  my  mind  that  it  pays  to  do  a  few  things 
well,  and  to  stick  to  them  instead  of  straying  all 
over  the  lot.  I  've  kept  going  at  full  pitch  in  sixty 
different  directions  ever  since  I  was  your  age,  and 
it 's  time  to  quit.  I  can't  stand  it,  that 's  the  long 
and  short  of  it.  '  Je  plie  et  ne  romps  pas,'  is  a 
motto  that  can  be  run  into  the  ground." 

"What  does  that  mean  ?  "  asked  Jack.  "  I  sup 
pose  it 's  French." 

"  Tough  on  my  accent,"  responded  Carlisle,  with 
a  grin.  "Yes,  it's  French,  and  means  'I  bend  and 
do  not  break.'  But  bending  is  about  as  uncomfort 
able  as  breaking,  in  the  long  run,  youngster." 


SETTLING   DOWN.  241 

"  What  are  you  going  to  do  then  ?  "  continued 
his  interrogator,  for  Jack  like  most  American  boys 
was  not  to  be  deterred  from  obtaining  information 
for  lack  of  persistence  in  asking  questions. 

"  I  'm  going  to  study,  chiefly." 

"  Study  ?  "  Jack  stared  aghast.  "  I  should  n't 
think  there  'd  be  much  fun  in  that,"  he  added,  after 
a  pause. 

"  Because  you  don't  know  anything  about  it." 

"  I  hate  study,"  observed  Jack  dogmatically. 

"  Oh,  no,  you  don't." 

"  I  tell  you  I  do.     I  detest  it !  " 

"  Oh,  no,  you  don't,  for  you  have  no  conception 
what  it  is,"  replied  Carlisle,  laughing.  "  I  don't 
believe  you  ever  did  an  hour's  real  study  in  your 
life." 

This  view  of  the  case  had  not  occurred  to  Jack, 
and  he  was  not  prepared  to  gainsay  the  statement. 
Something  prompted  him  to  glance  around  the  room 
at  the  rows  of  books  nearly  covering  two  walls  of 
the  den,  and  the  three  or  four  poetically  conceived 
pictures  in  tasteful  frames  to  which  he  had  never 
given  a  second  thought  before.  On  the  table  were 
writing-materials  and  other  paraphernalia  suggestive 


242  JACK  HALL. 

of  a  student.  "You  see,"  continued  Carlisle  qui 
etly,  "  I  'm  fond  of  study.  I  really  enjoy  Latin  and 
Greek  and  history.  "We're  just  beginning  Homer, 
and  there  are  parts  of  it  that  are  delightful.  I 
don't  care  much  for  algebra,  but  they  say  it  strength 
ens  the  mind.  I  shan't  go  in  for  anything  very 
desperately,  though,  this  year,"  he  added.  "  I  Ve 
been  thinking  over  Dr.  Bolles's  numerous  lectures 
to  me  on  the  subject,  and  have  decided  to  limit  my 
self  to  three  things,  —  study,  the  school  paper,  and 
rowing, — and  not  to  overtax  myself  at  any  one 
of  them.  If  I  don't,  Dr.  Bolles  says  there  is  no 
reason  why  I  should  n't  grow  rugged.  It  '11  be 
pleasant  to  feel  at  the  end  of  each  day  that  I 
have  n't  used  up  every  spark  of  vitality  I  possess." 
To  Jack,  whose  ideas  of  responsibility  were  at 
this  time  excessively  vague,  this  sort  of  talk  must 
have  sounded  almost  unintelligible.  However,  it 
soaked  in  with  everything  else  that  was  part  and 
parcel  of  his  daily  experience;  and  whatever  he  may 
have  thought  of  the  views  expressed,  he  lived  to 
see  Carlisle's  prediction  regarding  Coleman  verified 
by  Jessup's  comparatively  easy  victory  in  the  two 
hundred  yard  dash  at  the  athletic  meeting  in 
November. 


SETTLING   DOWN.  243 

These  half-yearly  meetings  were  great  occasions 
at  Utopia.  In  addition  to  the  foot-races,  which  in 
cluded  both  long  and  short  distances,  there  was  rope- 
climbing,  fence-vaulting,  standing  and  running  high 
jumps,  sparring  and  wrestling  in  three  classes,  — - 
feather,  middle,  and  heavy  weight,  —  and  a  tug  of 
war  between  teams  from  the  several  dormitories  to 
end  up  with.  Altogether  the  scene  was  decidedly 
Olympian-.  There  were  so  many  events  that  al 
most  every  boy  felt  that  he  had  a  chance  in  one  di 
rection  or  another.  Jack  entered  for  the  feather 
weight  wrestling,  but  only  to  be  thrown,  after  a  sav 
age  tussle,  flat  on  his  back,  and  to  have  his  shoul 
ders  pinned  to  the  ground  by  Carpenter,  who,  though 
a  year  older,  was  just  about  his  size.  It  was  a  very 
even  contest,  though,  everybody  admitted.  He  also 
was  one  of  the  field  of  seven  who  contested  with 
Jessup  the  two -hundred  yard  race,  having  been 
advised  by  Carlisle  to  go  in  just  to  show  what  he 
was  made  of,  and  he  was  rather  proud  at  coming  in 
fifth,  being  beaten  by  Hopedale,  of  the  next  higher 
class,  only  by  a  shave.  Haseltine,  who  also  entered, 
was  sixth,  which  was  a  considerable  comfort  to 
Jack. 


244  JACK   HALL. 

But  the  contests  with  the  gloves  were  what  took 
his  fancy  more  than  anything  else,  and  he  was  fired 
at  once  with  the  desire  to  learn  boxing.  This  was 
easy  to  do,  for  Dr.  Meredith  was  decidedly  of  the 
opinion  that  boys  should  understand  the  art  of  self- 
defense,  which  was  accordingly  taught  at  the  gym 
nasium  by  Dr.  Bolles  and  his  assistant,  to  all  who 
desired  to  receive  instruction.  There  were  a  good 
many  competitors  for  distinction  in  this  line,  and 
the  rivalry  resulted  in  some  hitting  and  receiving 
of  tolerably  hard  knocks,  which  now  and  then  bore 
fruit  in  the  shape  of  a  bloody  nose  or  black  eye  in 
spite  of  well-padded  gloves.  And  yet,  notwithstand 
ing  all  this  emulation,  it  was  very  rarely,  if  ever,  as 
Jack  soon  realized,  that  the  combatants  had  occa 
sion  to  make  practical  use  of  the  knowledge  thus 
acquired,  so  long  as  they  were  at  Utopia.  Indeed, 
it  may  almost  be  stated  as  a  general  truth  that  the 
American  boy  does  not  go  in  for  the  deliberate  slug 
ging  contests  one  reads  about  as  common  among 
the  youth  of  the  Mother  Country.  Unless  from  a 
spirit  of  sheer  imitation,  it  is  unusual,  I  believe, 
for  you  young  fellows  to  settle  bad  blood  by  a  cut- 
and-dried  fight  after  the  manner  of  "  Tom  Brown 


SETTLING    DOWN.  245 

and  '  Slugger '  Williams,"  with  whose  thrilling 
set-to  you  should  all  be  familiar.  Plenty  of  you  get 
mad  and  in  the  heat  of  the  moment  slap  a  fellow's 
face,  or  slang  him  until  he  cuffs  you ;  and  then  there 
is  give  and  take  for  a  few  moments,  in  the  course 
of  which  science  may  get  in  an  upper  cut  or  some 
such  telling  stroke;  but  your  friends  are  almost 
certain  to  drag  you  apart  before  much  damage  is 
done,  and  hold  you  back  until  you  have  cooled 
down.  The  idea  of  forming  a  "  ring  "  with  backers 
and  sponges  "  to  fight  it  out "  does  n't  seem  to 
occur  to  either  of  you,  or,  if  it  does,  public  opinion 
—  and  by  that  I  mean  school  opinion  —  is  against 
you.  I  rather  think  that  any  boy,  whether  a  Uto 
pian  or  otherwise,  can  count  on  the  fingers  of  a 
single  hand  the  number  of  regular  out-and-out 
fights  in  the  course  of  his  school-days  he  has  either 
participated  in  or  been  present  at. 

There  must  be  some  reason  for  this,  and  you  do 
not  need  to  be  told  that  American  boys  are  neither 
effeminate  nor  afraid  to  use  their  fists  when  occasion 
requires.  Lack  of  pluck  is  not  a  national  failing. 
We  stood  up  at  Bunker  Hill  against  bullets  long 
enough  to  convince  our  enemies  that  there  was  met- 


246  JACK   HALL. 

tie  in  us,  and  there  are  graveyards  within  walking 
distance  of  every  lad  under  the  stars  and  stripes 
who  may  read  this  story,  in  which  can  be  noted  the 
tribute  of  posterity  to  those  who  died  in  defense  of 
their  country.  There  is  no  sort  of  doubt  that  our 
boys  can  hit  straight  from  the  shoulder  whenever 
it  is  worth  their  while  to  do  so. 

I  have  an  idea  —  it  may  be  a  mistaken  one, 
though  I  am  fatuous  enough  to  have  faith  in  it  — 
that  the  world  in  growing  older  has  grown  wiser, 
and  less  cruel  and  brutish.  We  elders  proscribed 
duels  long  ago  on  the  score  that  they  were  unmanly 
and  inconsistent  with  the  requisites  of  Christian 
character;  and  dreadful  as  are  the  preparations  which 
even  to-day  are  going  on  in  so  many  countries  of 
the  globe  with  an  eye  to  deadly  strife,  there  can  be 
no  doubt  that  civilized  nations  are  much  less  ready 
to  plunge  into  war  than  they  used  to  be,  and  much 
more  inclined  to  submit  their  differences  to  arbitra 
tion.  There  are  cynics  —  at  least  they  seem  such  to 
me  —  who  maintain  that  there  must  always  be  wars 

until  the  end  of  time,  if  for  no  other  reason  than  to 

• 
dispose  of  the  surplus  population,  and  that  national 

reluctance   to  engage   in  them  proceeds  from  eco- 


SETTLING  DOWN.  247 

noraic  rather  than  humanitarian  scruples.  But 
those  of  us  who  still  believe  that  mankind  is  surely, 
even  if  slowly,  making  progress  toward  a  higher 
state  of  civilization,  cannot  but  be  of  the  opinion 
that  wholesale  resorts  to  force  to  settle  disputes 
must  inevitably  become  less  and  less  frequent,  from 
the  growing  conviction  among  human  beings  that 
they  are  a  relic  of  barbarism.  Already  has  this  con 
viction  made  such  headway  that  the  most  autocratic 
governments  would  hesitate  at  the  present  day  to 
declare  war  without  first  invoking  the  aid  of  referees, 
if  the  matter  at  issue  were  capable  of  peaceable  so 
lution. 

In  like  manner  it  is  fair  to  believe  that  the  doc 
trine  of  forbearance  is  so  much  in  the  air  that  you 
boys  have  become  inoculated  with  its  spirit,  and 
have  learned  to  abstain  from  blows  until  every 
other  remedy  has  failed.  There  is  no  cowardice  in 
such  a  policy.  Mere  fighting  for  the  sake  of  fight 
ing  savors  of  the  brute,  not  of  the  gentleman.  But 
this  is  to  be  borne  in  mind  notwithstanding,  though 
I  have  no  doubt  that  you  do  not  need  the  prompt 
ing  :  when  you  are  struck,  hit  back  with  all  your 
might.  Be  slow  to  strike  the  first  blow,  or  to  pro- 


248  JACK   HALL. 

voke  assault,  but  beware  of  letting  forbearance  out- 
ruu  its  usefulness  as  a  virtue.  Sunday-school  teach 
ers  may  argue  as  they  will,  but  the  world  will  never 
learn  to  applaud  or  to  respect  the  man  or  boy  who 
allows  his  rights  to  be  trampled  on  without  stubborn 
resistance. 

December  brought  with  it  ice  and  snow,  coasting 
and  skating,  which  for  the  time  being  overruled  all 
other  sports  and  interests  for  Jack.  For  a  good  four 
months  the  school  was  face  to  face  with  winter, 
which  means  in  this  country  something  worthy  of 
the  name,  —  genuine  stinging  cold,  which  makes 
boys'  cheeks  glow  if  they  move  briskly,  but  numbs 
their  fingers  if  they  sit  still;  and  a  roaring  fire  in 
the  great  schoolroom  in  the  evening,  around  which 
it  is  the  fashion  to  group  and  sing.  At  this  last- 
named  trysting  -  place  serviceable  friendships  are 
formed,  and,  in  the  case  of  Jack,  an  old  one  is 
renewed.  December  brought  with  it  Bill  French, 
the  same  Bill  as  of  yore,  and  yet  developed,  as  it 
were,  in  that  he  is  no  longer  the  street  urchin  of  a 
year  ago,  indifferent  as  to  his  clothes  and  hair.  Bill 
h;is  spruced  himself  eminently,  and  is  quite  the  lit 
tle  gentleman  now  in  his  cut  and  manner.  He  does 


SETTLING   DOWN.  249 

not  take  much  part  in  sports  himself,  but  he  knows 
all  about  them,  and  is  eager  to  back  this  sprinter  or 
that  oarsman  for  anything  from  a  nickle  up  to  five 
dollars,  which  is  a  fabulous  sum  at  Utopia,  as  you 
may  well  imagine.  He  has  at  the  very  outset  created 
a  profound  sensation  by  managing  to  retain  green 
backs  to  the  amount  of  five  times  that  sum  about 
his  person,  in  spite  of  the  school  rule  that  all 
money,  save  a  very  small  stipend  for  the  pocket,  is 
to  go  into  the  Doctor's  strong-box  for  safe-keeping. 

k'  How  did  you  manage  to  hold  on  to  it  ?  "  whis 
pered  Jack,  whose  admiration  for  Bill's  cunning 
ways  is  still  deep. 

44  Did  n't  give  it  to  him,  that 's  all." 

44  Did  n't  he  ask  you  for  it  ?  " 

44  What  if  he  did  ?  It  's  my  money,  not  his. 
Father  gave  it  to  me,  and  I  mean  to  spend  it  as  I 
choose." 

This  deliberate  springing  in  the  teeth  of  author 
ity  was  something  new  at  Utopia,  and,  like  most 
novelties,  gave  its  originator  notoriety  at  once. 
Jack  felt  proud  at  being  on  such  terms  with  the 
new  school  favorite,  who  before  long  took  upon 
himself  the  airs  of  a  leader  among  the  younger 


250  JACK   HALL. 

boys,  with  revolt  as  a  motto.  The  Doctor  was  all 
very  well,  but  he,  Bill  French,  was  not  going  to 
bend  the  knee  to  any  Doctor,  no  matter  how  wise 
and  good.  He  had  come  there  to  have  a  good  time, 
and  he  meant  to  have  it. 

It  took  Bill  some  months,  naturally,  to  raise  his 
standard.  His  methods,  as  you  know,  were  for  the 
most  part  underground  like  the  mole.  He  did  not 
believe  in  being  found  out,  and  he  had  no  intention 
of  getting  into  open  trouble  with  the  powers  that 
were,  if  he  could  help  it.  His  fad  was  for  manag 
ing  and  directing,  and  he  was  content  to  suggest, 
and  to  let  others  work  out  his  theories  without  ask 
ing  for  more  than  a  tithe  of  the  glor}r.  Great 
schemes  must  move  slowly  to  insure  success. 

So  Bill  to  the  ordinary  eye  appeared  rather  a 
desirable  addition  than  otherwise  to  the  make-up 
of  the  school.  He  had  always  been  rather  quick  at 
his  books,  and  found  no  difficulty  now  in  taking  a 
respectable  place  in  Jack's  class,  where  he  kept  his 
head  above  water  easily,  thus  hoodwinking  one  of 
the  eyes  of  Argus.  Where  Bill  really  showed  him 
self  in  his  true  kidney  was  about  the  aforesaid  fire 
on  cold  winter  nights,  when  he  had  an  opportunity 


SETTLING   DOWN.  251 

to  fascinate  the  circle  snuggled  around  him  by  hints 
as  to  what  might  be  done  if  one  only  dared.  Many 
listened,  and  Jack  most  eagerly  of  all.  Were  they 
not  Americans  ?  Bill  argued.  And  when  did  a 
true-born  patriot,  whether  man  or  boy,  put  up  with 
being  hedged  about  with  laws  which  he  despised  ? 
As  a  proof  of  what  might  be  accomplished  in  the 
way  of  resistance  without  difficulty,  the  arch-con 
spirator  excited  the  envy  of  all  whom  he  took  into 
the  secret  by  exhibiting  on  his  return  to  school  at 
the  beginning  of  the  fourth-class  year  a  pair  of 
white  mice  in  the  corner  of  one  of  his  bureau- 
drawers.  Nor  was  Bill  stupid  enough  to  let  them 
remain  there  long  enough  to  fall  under  the  eagle 
eye  of  Mrs.  Betty,  who  was  liable  to  come  prowling 
round  at  any  time  with  power  paramount  to  over 
haul  to  her  heart's  content.  When  the  little  crea 
tures,  a  month  later,  presided  over  a  family,  —  an 
other  triumph  for  their  proprietor,  —  it  was  in  the 
pocket  of  a  pair  of  trousers  hanging  harmlessly 
from  a  peg. 

The  influence  of  genius  such  as  this  was  hard  to 
resist,  and  had  it  stopped  here,  authority  might 
justifiably  have  been  disposed  to  regard  it  without 


252  JACK   HALL. 

concern ;  but  Bill  was  not  always  so  happy  in  his 
infringements  of  the  law.  He  was  wont  to  exhibit 
with  pride  a  small  silver  case  in  which  reposed  real 
cigarettes,  —  no  blood-sucking  rattan  subterfuges, 
but  the  genuine  aristocratic  article,  which  he  was 
in  the  habit  of  smoking  when  he  could  safely  do  so 
with  the  air  of  a  thorough-going  sport,  as  any  one 
at  Utopia  who  witnessed  the  performance  would 
agree.  At  such  times  Bill  was  a  decidedly  agree 
able  companion.  In  the  first  place  he  could  talk 
knowingly  by  the  hour  on  dogs  and  horses,  a  sub 
ject  which  was  imperfectly  understood  at  Utopia 
prior  to  his  arrival.  All  the  cant  phrases  of  the 
stable  were  at  his  command,  and  he  replenished 
them  by  the  perusal  of  a  weekly  sporting  paper  to 
which  he  subscribed,  and  which  put  Haseltine's 
base-ball  sheet  completely  in  the  shade.  In  his 
opinion,  life  at  the  school  was  tame,  and  stood  in 
need  of  thorough  reorganization. 

Much  as  Jack  admired  Bill,  he  was  not  really 
surprised  to  hear  Carlisle  observe,  some  weeks  after 
the  first  appearance  of  that  wily  youth,  "  I  don't 
care  much  for  your  new  friend,  youngster." 

"  Why  not,  Louis  ?  " 


SETTLING  DOWN.  253 

"  I  guess  he  's  sneaky,  is  n't  he  ?  Looks  it,  any 
way." 

"He's  mighty  smart,"  answered  Jack  evasively. 

"  I  dare  say." 

"  You  ought  to  like  him,"  pursued  Jack,  "  for 
he  's  a  first-rate  scholar.  He  could  stand  a  good 
deal  higher  if  he  chose  to  study." 

Carlisle  laughed.  "  I  set  store  by  study  I  know," 
he  said,  "  but  it  is  n't  a  free  pass  to  my  favor,  as 
you  appear  to  think.  Strange  as  it  may  seem,  I 
prefer  you,  idle  as  you  are,  to  your  industrious 
friend.  And  by  the  way,  Jack,  you  have  been 
worse  than  ever,  lately.  You  must  brace  up  or 
you  will  have  the  Doctor  down  on  you." 

Both  were  silent  for  a  moment.  It  was  some 
thing  new  for  Carlisle  to  lecture,  as  he  would  have 
called  it.  He  had  always  shrunk  from  preaching 
to  his  friend  deliberately,  intimate  as  were  their 
relations,  preferring  to  indicate  by  chaff  and  indi 
rect  suggestions  what  might  be  in  his  mind  regard 
ing  Jack's  needs.  But  these  few  words  were  spoken 
so  seriously  that  the  culprit  looked  at  him  aston 
ished. 

There  was  a  reason   for    them.     Dr.  Meredith, 


254  JACK  HALL. 

having  great  faith  in  the  influence  for  good  which 
the  larger  boys  at  a  school  like  Utopia  can  exert 
upon  their  juniors,  lost  no  occasion  to  impress  upon 
his  favorites  their  duty  in  this  respect.  Only  the 
day  before  he  had  chanced  upon  Carlisle  strolling 
down  toward  the  river  alone,  and  had  joined  him. 

"  You  're  looking  better,  Louis,  I  'm  glad  to  see. 
Your  more  sober  life  agrees  with  you." 

Somehow  or  other  the  Doctor  knew  the  imper 
fect  joint  in  the  armor  of  every  one  of  his  pupils, 
and  he  was  no  less  prompt  to  seize  an  opportunity 
to  speak  a  word  of  encouragement,  than  he  was 
courageous  in  probing  a  weakness  to  the  core. 

"  I  'm  in  first-rate  condition,  sir.  Gained  five 
pounds  this  term." 

"  I  wish,  now  that  your  hand  is  in,  you'd  see 
what  you  could  do  with  Hall,"  the  Doctor  had  con 
tinued.  "  I  am  disturbed  at  the  way  the  boy  is 
going  on.  He  seems  a  manly,  spirited  fellow,  and 
I  like  him,  but  he  won't  study.  In  fact,  he  's  get 
ting  more  of  a  shirk  every  day." 

"  Yes,  sir,  he  does  n't  study  much,  that 's  a  fact," 
observed  Carlisle. 

"A  word  from  you,  Louis,  might  do  an  immense 


SETTLING   DOWN.  255 

amount  of  good.  He'd  listen  to  you  when  he 
would  n't  to  me." 

Carlisle  had  hung  his  head  and  remained  silent. 
He  knew  very  well  what  Doctor  Meredith  meant, 
for  had  he  not  observed  Jack's  idleness  with  in 
creasing  regret,  and  yet  been  content  to  pass  it  off 
with  an  occasional  jest?  All  his  talk  during  their 
intercourse  had  been  about  himself,  concerning 
which  he  could  discourse  glibly  enough ;  but  such 
speculation  as  he  was  wont  to  indulge  in,  however 
suggestive  to  an  intelligent  listener,  was  scarcely 
the  sort  of  pabulum  by  which  to  convert  a  hobble- 
de-hoy  offender  like  Jack.  He  had  been  conscious 
for  some  time  of  what  with  his  disposition  to  call 
things  by  their  right  names  he  considered  his  own 
selfishness  and  self  -  absorption,  and  this  solicita 
tion  of  the  Doctor's  thrust  them  forward  into  the 
light. 

"  I  know  what  you  would  say,"  his  master  had 
continued.  "  You  have  a  horror  of  sermonizing. 
You  don't  wish  to  spoil  your  relations  with  him,  as 
you  think,  by  being  serious.  You  are  right,  Louis, 
in  that.  But  I  don't  believe,  if  you  look  at  the 
matter  squarely,  that  you  would  drive  Hall  into  his 


256  JACK  HALL. 

shell  by  letting  him  see  that  you  don't  approve  of 
his  present  way  of  going  on." 

"  He  knows  I  approve  of  study." 

"  Yes,  for  yourself,"  had  answered  the  sagacious 
Doctor.  "Let  him  understand  thoroughly  that  it 
is  just  as  imperative  for  him." 

"  I  '11  try,  sir,"  the  older  boy  had  answered,  after 
a  pause. 

"  I  shall  be  infinitely  obliged  to  you ;  and  while 
we  are  on  the  subject,  what  sort  of  a  boy  is  this 
William  French  ?  I  understand  that  he  and  Hall 
are  old  cronies.  Don't  answer  if  you'd  rather  not," 
had  added  the  Doctor,  who  sympathized  with  the 
code  of  honor  which  prompts  a  schoolboy  to  abstain 
from  speaking  ill  of  one  of  his  companions. 

"  He  does  n't  seem  to  me  very  straightforward," 
had  blurted  out  Carlisle,  instigated  perhaps  by  a 
desire  to  protect  Jack  from  the  evil  machinations 
of  the  new-comer. 

44 Indeed!  That  is  not  a  pleasant  trait.  Thank 
you,  Louis.  Such  boys  as  you  can  do  a  great  deal 
to  help  me,  if  you  only  will,  without  in  any  way 
impairing  your  obligations  as  '  good  fellows.'  " 

The  first  i-esult  of  this  conversation  has  been  in- 


SETTLING   DOWN.  257 

dicated.  Carlisle's  words,  limited  as  they  were, 
came  at  a  moment  when  Jack  was  sorely  in  need  of 
them.  Although  he  made  no  comment  at  the  time, 
other  than  to  look  grave,  and  though  he  sought  to 
brush  the  remembrance  of  them  away  as  speedily 
as  possible,  he  was  nevertheless  face  to  face  with 
the  consciousness  —  a  consciousness  of  which  he 
had  caught  occasional  glimpses  before  of  late  —  of 
dissatisfaction  with  himself.  What  was  more,  it 
enthralled  him  like  a  net,  and  the  more  he  struggled 
held  him  the  tighter.  Vague  lack  of  content  with 
one's  own  career  is  not  synonymous  with  an  inten 
tion  to  reform,  but  it  is  a  step  in  the  right  direction. 
Jack  would  never  be  able  to  feel  again,  except 
through  utter  callousness  of  soul,  that  satisfaction 
in  wrong-doing  which  exists  before  the  sense  of  re 
sponsibility  is  awakened. 

There  is  little  further  to  chronicle  regarding  the 
second  year  of  Jack's  school-life,  which  sped  along 
from  week  to  week  without  revealing  much  outward 
change  in  his  daily  routine  of  duties  and  pleasures ; 
the  former  endured  with  unwillingness  and  neg 
lected  so  far  as  was  possible,  the  latter  participated 
in  with  untiring  enthusiasm.  In  the  class-room  he 


258  JACK  HALL. 

was  the  same  mischief-making,  idle  urchin  as  ever, 
distinguished  for  his  dog's-eared,  caricature-lined 
books  of  study,  and  an  utter  ignorance  of  their  con 
tents.  On  the  playground  every  faculty  seemed 
alert,  and  all  his  energy  centred  in  excelling  at 
whatever  pastime  he  was  for  the  moment  fascinated 
by. 


CHAPTER   IX. 

THE  BIG  FOUR. 

As  a  fourth-class  boy  Jack  fairly  felt  his  oats,  and 
with  justice,  if  one  considers  what  a  satisfactory 
status  was- meant  by  that  term  at  Utopia.  A  fourth- 
classer  had  nothing  to  learn,  so  to  speak.  He  knew 
all  the  ropes.  He  had  at  his  fingers1  ends  every 
thing  connected  with  the  ways  of  the  school,  and 
was  entitled  to  regard  himself  as  untainted  by  green 
ness  of  any  description.  Pride  and  some  bumptious 
ness  were  the  result,  but  more  particularly  a  rattling 
way  of  doing  things  as  though  those  engaged  in 
whatever  was  in  hand  had  unlimited  confidence  in 
themselves,  as  indeed  they  had.  To  be  a  fourth- 
classer,  if  one  were  a  prominent  fellow,  was  the 
same  as  being  one  of  the  cocks  of  the  lower  school, 
and  a  person  to  be  deferred  to  whenever  any  matter 
was  mooted  concerning  the  more  juvenile  half  of 
the  body  politic. 

Taking  the  list  by  and  large,  there  were  no  more 


260  JACK   HALL. 

prominent  fourth-classers  in  their  year  than  the 
quartette  who  trained  together  under  the  pseudo 
nym  of  "  The  Big  Four."  These  were  Jack,  Ha- 
seltine,  Bill  French,  and  Horton.  In  justice  to  Bill, 
his  name  should  have  been  written  first,  for  it  was 
he  who  had  conceived  the  idea  of  welding  into  one 
compact  body  the  best  material  in  the  class,  with  a 
view  to  cooperation  in  various  directions.  To  his 
brain  was  due  the  origin  of  the  mysterious  secret 
society,  of  which  he  and  his  three  pals  were  the 
units.  At  Utopia,  where  there  had  never  been  a 
secret  society  up  to  this  time,  whoever  referred  to 
"  The  Big  Four  "  spoke  with  bated  breath,  as  of  an 
organization  very  little  understood,  and  in  awe  of 
which  it  was  incumbent  to  stand. 

Bill  came  back  after  vacation  full  of  the  scheme, 
and  found  little  difficulty  in  making  its  merits  ap 
parent  to  Jack.  After  some  cogitation  the  number 
was  swelled  by  the  election  of  Haseltine  and  Hor 
ton.  The  constitution  was  a  sort  of  cross  between 
the  Declaration  of  Rights  and  such  an  instrument 
as  a  community  of  bandits  might  have  drawn  for 
mutual  protection.  It  began  as  follows :  — 


THE   BIG    FOUR.  261 

"ARTICLE   I. 

"  This  society  is  organized  to  secure  to  free-born 
American  citizens  the  enjoyment  of  their  natural 
liberties." 

A  sentiment  distinctly  praiseworthy,  at  least  on 
the  surface,  and  broad  in  its  scope.  After  this  gen 
eral  definition  of  usefulness  and  certain  provisions 
as  to  name,  membership,  and  grip,  appeared  a  few 
by-laws,  embodying  a  most  salient  code  of  behavior, 
among  which  was  the  third,  to  wit :  — 

"  No  member  shall,  on  pain  of  expulsion,  kiss  any 
female  except  his  mother." 

To  cap  and  clinch  the  whole,  thus  heading  off 
treachery  at  the  start,  it  was  laid  down,  — 

"  Whoever  shall  at  any  period  of  his  existence 
divulge,  or  in  any  manner  make  known,  the  secrets 
of  this  society,  or  shall  with  or  without  malice-afore 
thought  break  its  laws  or  abandon  its  principles, 
shall  suffer  death  with  torture,  to  be  inflicted  by  the 
members  for  the  time  being,  except  as  otherwise 
herein  provided." 

This  joint  production,  for  each  of  the  four  had  a 
hand  in  its  composition,  was  solemnly  signed  and 
sworn  to  at  midnight  in  the  lavatory  where  the 


262  JACK   HALL. 

whole  society  assembled  by  concerted  action.  To 
make  the  oath  more  binding,  the  pen  was  dipped  in 
the  blood  of  the  successive  signers,  at  Haseltine's 
prompting,  who  fully  believed  at  the  time  that  who 
ever  should  violate  it  could  not  escape  a  lingering 
death.  He  even  went  so  far  as  to  suggest  that  a 
burning-glass  focused  upon  the  abdomen  would 
probably  produce  as  exquisite  suffering  as  any  of 
the  appliances  known  to  inquisitorial  or  savage  tor 
turers.  To  Jack  belonged  the  credit  of  devising  the 
already  quoted  clause  relating  to  women,  the  recep 
tion  of  which  was  unequivocally  enthusiastic,  and 
seemed  to  them  to  stamp  the  organization  at  once 
as  a  manly  body,  proof  against  Delilahs,  or  all 
feminine  influence  except  that  prescribed  by  early 
piety. 

"  I  hate  girls ;  they  're  silly  little  things,"  con 
tinued  the  originator  of  the  by-law  in  question. 

"  I  'd  like  to  see  one  of  them  try  to  kiss  me ! " 
said  Haseltine. 

The  latter  idea  did  not  seem  so  repulsive  to  Bill 
and  Horton,  though  they  acquiesced  in  the  provision 
as  smacking  of  wisdom,  on  the  whole.  Indeed, 
almost  from  the  start,  there  was  a  difference  of 


THE  BIG  FOUR.  263 

opinion,  scarcely  perceptible  at  first,  bat  constantly 
growing  wider,  as  to  the  real  functions  of  "  The  Big 
Four." 

To  Jack  and  Haseltine  it  stood  for  freedom,  and 
defiance  of  authority  in  any  form,  and  especially 
defiance  against  the  Doctor,  to  be  evidenced  by  dis 
obedience,  as  the  spirit  might  move,  whether  in  the 
way  of  marauding  expeditions  or  midnight  feasts. 
Caution,  more  than  was  absolutely  necessar3r,  was 
disregarded  by  them,  and  concealment  was  a  policy 
which  they  despised.  They  were  indifferent,  not 
only  as  to  what  authority  might  think,  but  even 
as  to  whether  authority  was  aware  of  what  they 
were  up  to.  War  to  the  knife,  without  mercy  or 
compromise  on  either  side,  was  what  they  craved, 
proudly  confident  of  their  ability  to  trample  au 
thority  in  the  dust. 

But  the  other  two  were  wiser  in  their  generation, 
with  the  wisdom  of  the  serpent.  They  believed 
distinctly  in  lying  low,  and  in  masking  the  counte 
nance  both  metaphorically  and  literally.  "  Do 
wrong  by  stealth  and  blush  to  find  it  fame,"  would 
have  seemed  to  them  an  admirable  epitome  of  their 
views.  And  just  as  their  methods  savored  of  craft 


264  JACK  HALL. 

and  nnderhancledness,  so  their  favorite  acts  of 
defiance  —  for  in  throwing  off  authority  all  were 
united  —  were  apt  to  be  such  as  would  not  bear 
the  light  of  day.  Vice  is  a  parasite  that  flourishes 
best  in  the  shade.  There  Bill  French's  whisper 
sounded  most  seductively,  and  his  "  I  say,  fellows, 
I  know  what  let 's  do,"  was  least  easy  to  resist. 

Such  was  the  attraction  of  this  new  interest  that 
Jack  thought  of  but  little  else.  Not  only  did  he 
begin  to  neglect  Carlisle,  but  he  ceased  to  feel  his 
old  ambition  to  excel  at  games.  At  the  spring 
athletic  meeting  of  the  year  before  he  had  followed 
Carlisle's  advice  to  hold  off  for  another  six  months, 
but  when  the  time  came  the  following  autumn  he 
failed  to  make  as  good  a  record  as  when  he  had  first 
appeared  on  the  track.  He  was  only  seventh  this 
time  in  a  field  of  eight,  being  almost  distanced  by 
Hopedale,  whom  he  had  pressed  so  close  on  the  pre 
vious  occasion.  Such  were  his  disgust  and  morti 
fication  that  he  thereupon  had  his  name  scratched 
from  both  the  feather- weight  wrestling  and  the 
feather-weight  sparring,  in  each  of  which  events  he 
had  intended  to  be  a  competitor.  He  felt  thor 
oughly  angry,  and  the  secret  cause  of  his  anger  was 


THE   BIG   FOUR.  265 

the  consciousness  that  it  was  all  liis  own  fault.  He 
had  not  taken  the  trouble  to  train,  so  certain  was 
he  in  his  self-conceit  of  sweeping  all  before  him. 
Now,  like  Achilles  in  his  tent,  he  preferred  to  sulk. 
He  would  cut  sports  altogether.  The  game  was 
not  worth  the  candle.  But  in  his  heart  was  a  sore 
spot.  He  had  meant  to  win  that  race.  He  could 
see  Carlisle's  eyes  fixed  on  him  gravely  as  he  slunk 
away  panting  —  and  fairly  blown  —  at  the  finish, 
and  recalled  his  friend's  subsequent  reproof. 

"  The  trouble  with  you  is  that  you  want  the 
earth,  Jack.  You  can't  expect  to  win  without  buck 
ling  down  to  it  beforehand." 

"  I  'in  in  first-rate  condition,"  Jack  had  growled. 

"  Over-trained,  then,  perhaps,"  had  been  the  sar 
castic  answer. 

Even  in  rowing  —  his  pet  hobby  —  he  could  not 
boast  of  having  made  any  marked  progress.  Al 
though  in  the  two  upper  classes  there  was  no  aquatic 
luminary  at  the  moment,  a  very  clever  oarsman 
was  developing  in  the  person  of  Tom  Bonsall  of 
the  third,  a  clean-cut,  well-shaped  fellow,  some  ten 
pounds  more  beefy  than  Jack,  and  at  once  his  secret 
admiration  and  despair.  To  watch  Tom  row,  fairly 


266  JACK  HALL. 

goaded  him  into  fury.  He  was  only  a  year  ahead 
of  Jack,  and  yet  he  was  in  the  Mohicans,  and,  what 
is  more,  was  able  to  boast,  after  the  autumn  races, 
that  he  belonged  to  the  champion  crew.  The  long 
victorious  Atalantas,  weakened  by  the  loss  of  Hazel- 
hurst,  were  a  poor  second.  Then  and  there  Jack 
vowed,  when  he  realized  what  had  taken  place,  that 
he  would  from  this  moment  have  but  one  object  in 
life  :  to  transfer  the  laurel  from  his  rival's  brow  to 
his  own. 

A  very  pretty  sentiment,  and  quite  at  variance 
with  the  cynical  communings  of  a  fortnight  earlier, 
when  he  had  resolved  to  renounce  sport  utterly. 
But  it  is  one  thing  to  make  vows,  another  to  carry 
them  out.  Jack  had  not  overestimated,  even  in 
his  inner  consciousness,  his  lack  of  condition,  both 
physical  and  moral.  When  one  is  distinctly  flabby 
in  body  and  soul  alike,  a  good  resolution  is  too 
apt  to  resemble  one  of  these  rockets  that  flare  up 
grandly  and  gaudily  for  a  moment,  only  to  leave 
the  night  the  darker  through  their  inability  to  last. 
To  feel  virtuous  and  heroic  during  a  transcendent 
hour  is  not  much  to  boast  of,  unless  one  has  the 
grit  to  stand  firm  when  face  to  face  once  more  with 


THE  BIG  FOUR.  267 

the  commonplace  and  the  every-day,  those  disarm 
ing  begetters  of  temptation. 

But  .one  must  not  be  too  hard  upon  poor  Jack 
because  liis  vows  proved  no  more  stable  than  do 
those  of  all  of  us  at  some  time  or  other.  For  at 
the  worst  he  was  not  a  very  hopeless  case.  Even 
when  sitting  up  in  the  lavatory  into  the  small 
hours  of  the  morning,  sipping  beer  and  playing 
"  penny  nap,"  —  the  height  of  schoolboy  dissipa 
tion,. —  one  who  could  have  seen  into  his  heart 
would  not  have  despaired  of  him.  It  was  some 
thing  that  he  did  not  smoke,  —  not  because  of  the 
harm  which  Bill  French's  cheroots  might  have 
done  him,  but  because  he  could  not  forget  that  he 
had  promised  his  mother  not  to  smoke  anything, 
be  it  rattan,  sweet-fern,  or  tobacco ;  and  to  break 
his  word,  and  most  of  all  to  break  it  to  her,  was 
synonymous  in  his  mind,  as  it  well  should  have 
been,  with  a  very  abandoned  moral  condition.  And 
yet  curiosity  in  part,  and  in  part  an  unwillingness 
to  be  left  behind  in  "knowledge  of  life"  by  the 
other  members  of  his  illustrious  society,  induced 
him  to  follow  in  whatsoever  directions  he  was  led, 
in  spite  of  the  fact  that  this  new  and  daily  more 


268  JACK   HALL. 

troublesome  factor  in  his  general  make-up,  his 
conscience,  pricked  him,  and  took  away  much  of 
the  satisfaction  of  his  discreditable  doings. 

What  would  his  mother  have  said  if  she  could 
have  seen  him  at  one  of  these  cunningly  devised 
nocturnal  parties?  Her  constant  prayer  has  been 
that  her  innocent  boy  may  not  become  prematurely 
old  in  the  so-called  ways  of  the  world,  —  a  knowing 
little  gentleman,  rotten  before  he  is  ripe,  without 
enthusiasm,  without  heart,  and  without  hope.  Is 
there  a  parent  who  will  not  sympathize  with  this 
mother's  petition  to  heaven?  Civilization  is  regard 
ing  with  increasing  alarm  the  menaces  of  the  r.n- 
educated  poor;  but  its  invocation  rather  should  be, 
"God  save  us  from  the  educated  rich,"  —  educated 
and  graduated  in  the  sloth  and  vice  which  eats  into 
the  soul  as  no  other  canker  can.  Rich  men's  sons 
who  do  nothing  for  humanity  but  sneer,  are  a 
harder  burden  for  Atlas  to  bear  than  all  the  host 
of  the  starving  unemployed. 

But  even  in  his  present  stage,  when  it  seemed  as 
though  Bill  French's  wisdom  carried  all  before  it 
in  the  councils  of  the  Big  Four,  Jack  much  pre 
ferred  the  life  of  the  border  ruffian  to  that  of  the 


THE  BIG  FOUR.  269 

sly  voluptuary.  Bill's  fun,  though  he  had  his  part 
in  it,  appeared  tame  as  compared  \\ith  the  ecstasy 
which  proceeds  from  more  obvious  peril.  To  carry 
away  a  quart  of  lager  under  one's  waistband,  to  go 
in  debt  to  the  amount  of  half  a  dollar  if  one's  luck 
was  bad,  and  to  show  up  next  morning  sallow  and 
watery-eyed,  but  very  spruce  and  stylish  as  to  one's 
collar  and  tie,  proud  as  the  distinction  was,  did  not 
set  Jack's -veins  a-throbbing  as  he  delighted  to  have 
them,  throb.  If  Bill  had  been  consulted  in  the 
premises  he  would  doubtless  have  maintained  that 
his  friend  was  not  yet  educated  up  to  the  point 
where  he  could  appreciate  at  their  proper  value  the 
advantages  open  to  him.  To  this  juvenile  Epicu 
rean  the  plots  which  the  two  more  boisterous 
spirits  were  constantly  unfolding  involved  a  need 
less  waste  of  vitality,  from  which  he  shrank  more 
and  more  in  proportion  as  the  serpent's  wisdom 
became  his  own.  It  was  not  policy,  however,  even 
if  it  were  possible,  to  resist  at  all  times  the  ex 
pressed  desire  of  half  the  society.  As  a  consequence, 
vitality  ran  riot  in  minor  manifestations,  such  as 
the  pilfering  of  neighboring  hen-roosts,  the  sealing 
up  of  the  lock  of  the  schoolroom  door,  the  firing  of 


270  JACK  HALL. 

a  tar-barrel  in  front  of  the  Doctor's  very  window, 
and  panted  for  more.  Every  one  —  by  which  is 
meant  school  opinion  —  was  delighted,  and  with 
finger  on  lip  whispered  mysteriously,  "  Big  Four." 


As  for  Jack  and  Haseltine,  they  trod  the  earth 
with  the  demeanor  of  gods,  and  after  dark  put 
their  heads  together.  Presumptuous  youth  is  slow 
to  be  content  with  moderate  glory.  Had  Phaeton 
escaped  destruction  he  would  have  wearied  of  driv 
ing  his  father's  horses  in  a  fortnight,  and  been 
thirsting  fora  fresh  exploit.  Our  heroes,  who  had 
up  to  this  time  escaped  detection,  were  harassed 
by  the  feeling  that  authority  took  too  little  heed  of 
the  cuffs  they  administered  to  it.  The  bonfire  had 


THE   BIG   FOUR.  271 

been  put  up  with  almost  calmly.  The  next  act  of 
defiance  should  be  such  as  could  not  be  passed  over 
without  exposing  their  enemies  to  ridicule. 

It  was  not  altogether  easy  to  hit  upon  a  device 
worthy  of  their  prowess  and  yet  within  the  pale  of 
permissible  barbarity.  For  undoubtedly  nihilistic 
as  were  Jack's  and  Haseltine's  designs,  there  was  a 
limit  which  they  were  not  prepared  to  overstep. 
Although  it  might  be  that  in  the  estimation  of 
them  both  hanging  was  too  good  for  the  Doctor 
and  his  assistants,  any  plot  endangering  human  life 
was,  perchance  regretfull}7,  but  none  the  less  firmly, 
discarded.  On  the  other  hand,  to  burn  the  head 
master  in  effigy,  a  proposal  which  emanated  from 
the  seething  brain  of  young  Horton,  struck  the 
conclave  as  a  superficial  bit  of  mischief,  which, 
however  showy  from  its  impertinence,  would  never 
theless  inflict  no  real  suffering  on  him  at  whom  it 
was  aimed. 

Bill  French,  as  was  apt  to  be  the  case,  even  in 
matters  outside  of  his  own  department,  so  to  speak, 
settled  the  question  finally. 

"  I  say,  fellows,  I  know  what  let 's  do,"  he  said 
one  evening,  after  they  had  been  sitting  silently 


272  JACK   HALL. 

racking  their  brains  for  a  considerable  time,"  "  let 's 
blow  something  up." 

" Blow  what  up?  "  queried  Jack,  somewhat  scorn 
fully,  thus  showing  that  gunpowder  and  nitro 
glycerine  had  already  entered  into  his  dny-dreams, 
but  had  been  renounced  for  lack  of  suitable  mate- 
rial'on  which  to  experiment. 

u  The  tool-house." 

"  Great  Csesar ! "  ejaculated  our  hero  with  en 
thusiasm,  "the  very  thing!  Why  have  we  never 
thought  of  it  before  ?  " 

Whereupon  Jack,  by  way  of  further  ecstasy, 
began  to  execute  a  muffled  clog-dance  to  a  low 
whistling  accompaniment. 

"  Sh !  You  11  have  Sawyer  down  on  us  like  a 
thousand  of  bricks  if  you  don't  let  up,"  objected 
Bill. 

The  quarters  of  "  The  Big  Four"  were  no  longer 
in  the  lavatory,  where  their  only  light  had  been 
the  proverbially  capricious  splendor  of  the  moon, 
and  where  no  whisper  was  too  low  for  safety.  At 
the  beginning  of  this  school  year  one  of  the  studies 
occupied  by  the  two  upper  classes,  which  had  be 
come  vacant  owing  to  the  illness  of  its  proprietor, 


THE  BIG  FOUR.  273 

had  been  boldly  appropriated  by  the  society.  A 
piece  of  cloth  over  the  keyhole  and  other  appli 
ances  along  the  floor-line  prevented  the  rays  of  the 
solitary  candle  which  illumined  their  meetings  from 
betraying  them ;  and  there  they  sat  like  four  young 
ghouls,  Avith  masks  upon  their  faces,  or  close  at 
hand  ready  to  be  donned  at  the  first  signal  of 
danger. 

The  tool-house  referred  to  was  a  modest  struc 
ture  behind  the  gymnasium,  which  served  Horace 
Hosmer  for  the  use  which  its  name  suggests,  and 
was  besides  a  general  storehouse  in  which  to  stow 
odds  and  ends  out  of  place  elsewhere.  It  stood  in 
a  position  well  adapted  to  shelter  from  discovery 
the  mooted  scheme  on  the  fulfillment  of  which  the 
energies  of  the  Big  Four  were  now  resolutely  bent. 
To  obtain  the  needful  ammunition  required  time; 
but  on  returning  to  school  at  the  close  of  the 
spring  recess  the  united  accumulations  of  the  con 
spirators'  pockets  were  found  to  be  two  small  cans 
of  powder,  a  bunch  of  cannon-crackers,  a  piece  of 
slow-match,  and  several  fuses.  The  last-named 
were  especially  valuable  for  the  reason  that,  to  in 
sure  the  safety  of  the  society,  a  sufficient  period 


274  JACK  HALL. 

must  elapse  between  the  touching  off  the  mine  and 
the  explosion  to  allow  those  participating  to  cross 
the  quadrangle  and  be  hauled  up  again  in  the 
basket  which  was  to  be  let  down  from  the  study 
where  their  meetings  were  held. 

This  does  not  look  much  like  reform,  Master 
Jack.  Seeing  you  in  such  a  guise  at  twelve  o'clock 
at  night  —  though  no  one  would  ever  recognize  you 
in  your  ferocious  mask  with  the  flowing  horsehair 
mustache  and  your  coat-collar  muffled  about  your 
ears  —  makes  one  wonder  whether  you  were  really 
in  earnest  when  you  made  your  vow  not  to  rest  until 
you  had  defeated  Tom  Bonsall  at  the  sculls.  No 
use  in  our  moralizing  now,  however,  for  wild  horses 
would  not  keep  you  from  your  part  in  the  tragedy. 
And  indeed  there  is  something  rather  winning,  al 
most  exculpating  as  it  were,  in  the  proud  though 
mistaken  consciousness  of  a  righteous  cause  resplen 
dent  in  your  every  movement  and  gesture.  One 
sighs  to  see  such  energy  and  ardor  of  spirit  ex 
pended  in  so  mean  a  task.  Even  you  would  admit, 
if  squarely  taxed  on  the  point,  that  you  have  no 
real  grievance  against  the  Doctor  except  that  he  is 
determined  to  make  you  study  and  to  make  you 


THE   BIG   FOUR.  275 

obey.  "  Yes,  but  that  is  the  point  at  issue,"  you 
would  doubtless  answer.  "  We  prefer  idleness  and 
insubordination.  Why  should  we  obey  ?  " 

On  the  night  selected  for  the  explosion,  duly  at 
the  appointed  hour  the  four  boys  crept  on  tiptoe 
from  their  respective  dens  in  the  large  dormitory  to 
the  usual  spot  without  disturbing  anybody.  Each 
brought  with  him  part  of  the  necessary  parapher 
nalia.  They  proceeded  immediately  to  draw  lots  to 
decide  which  two  should  perform  the  actual  deed. 
The  other  pair  were  to  remain  behind  to  lower  the 
basket  down  and  pull  it  up  again.  It  was  solved 
by  the  process  known  as  "  freezing  out."  Each 
took  a  cent  from  his  pocket  and  laid  it  on  the 
table.  There  were  three  heads  and  one  tail.  Bill 
French's  was  the  tail.  He  was  therefore  by  previ 
ous  agreement  to  be  one  of  the  home-guard.  With 
trembling  hand  Jack  deposited  his  coin  for  the  sec 
ond  time.  Not  to  be  able  to  light  the  fuse  himself 
would  rob  the  affair  of  half  its  sweetness  for  him. 

His  was  a  head. 

"  A  head,"  said  Haseltine. 

"So's  mine,"  said  Horton. 

"  No  choice,  then,"  said  Bill.     "Toss  again." 


276  JACK   HALL. 

This  time  Jack  got  a  tail.  He  leaned  forward 
feverishly  and  perceived  that  Horton  had  one  also. 

"  A  head,"  said  Haseltine. 

"  You  stay  with  me,  then,"  said  Bill,  who  was 
qnick-witted  in  emergencies.  "Let's  get  to  work. 
Sooner  it's  over,  the  better." 

Jack's  heart  gave  a  bound.  It  would  have  suited 
him  to  have  had  Haseltine  with  him,  and  he  whis 
pered  in  the  ear  of  his  favorite  pal  some  words  to 
that  effect.  It  was  everything,  however,  to  be  going 
himself,  and  he  was  well  aware  that  Horton  was  no 
slouch  on  such  an  occasion. 

It  takes  but  a  few  moments  to  adjust  the  rope, 
and  the  two  lads,  after  stowing  the  combustibles  in 
their  pockets,  are  ready  to  descend.  Jack  is  the 
proud  bearer  of  a  small  dark  lantern,  which  gives 
him  an  additionally  burglarish  air.  He  flashes  it 
once  or  twice  playfully  in  Bill's  face,  much  to  that 
worthy's  dissatisfaction,  who  is  even  more  nervous 
than  usual,  going  now  and  again  to  the  door  to  lis 
ten  after  enjoining  silence  by  an  agonized  "  sh  !  " 

But  everything  is  as  still  as  the  grave.  Being 
finally  satisfied  on  this  score,  Bill  proceeds  with  an 
air  of  gravity  to  uncork  a  couple  of  bottles  of  beer 


THE   BIG  FOUR.  277 

from  which  he  fills  four  glasses,  the  property  of  the 
society  and  kept  in  a  cupboard  in  the  corner. 

Each  of  the  Big  Four  having  doffed  his  mask 
lifts  one  of  these  from  the  table  and  surveys  his 
fellow-members  with  dignity,  waiting  for  the  word 
of  command  from  the  Pater  Primus,  as  the  pre 
siding  genius  is  styled,  before  putting  the  beaded 
beverage  to  their  lips. 

"  Brothers  of  the  Big  Four,"  begins  Bill.  "  Once 
again  .we  are  met  together  to  maintain  justice  and 
to  resist  tyranny.  Here  's  success,  and  destruction 
to  our  foes." 

"Success,  and  destruction  to  our  foes." 

As  the  voices  echo  his  words  the  four  glasses 
softly  clink  against  one  another.  Then  the  heroes 
drink.  It  is  a  solemn  rite  to  Jack.  His  blood  is 
all  on  fire. 

"We  will  die  game,"  he  utters  grandiloquently, 
as  he  drains  the  last  drops,  and  slips  back  his  mask 
over  his  face  much  as  a  warrior  would  have  re 
placed  a  helmet. 

He  goes  to  the  window  and  tries  the  rope.  It  is 
strong  enough  for  six  times  the  necessary  weight. 
He  is  putting  one  foot  into  the  basket  —  a  large 


278  JACK  HALL. 

clothes  -  basket  filched  the  day  before  from  Mrs. 
Betty's  department  —  when  Bill  again  enjoins 
silence  and  bends  his  ear. 

"  It 's  all  right,  Bill,"  whispers  Jack. 

"  I  don't  half  like  it,"  replies  the  Pater  Primus. 
"  If  we  're  caught,  it  means  expulsion  cock  sure." 

"  Who  's  going  to  catch  us  ?  It  is  n't  the  time 
to  squawk  now." 

"  Who  wants  to  squawk  ?  "  protests  Bill. 

"  Lower  away." 

Down  goes  the  basket  slowly  but  surely  with  its 
living  freight.  Practice  in  former  exploits  has 
made  the  descent  seem  less  ticklish  than  at  first  to 
the  young  aeronauts. 

Jack  and  Horton  having  reached  the  earth  in 
safety  walk  cautiously  but  rapidly  across  the  part 
of  the  quadrangle  which  lies  between  them  and  the 
gymnasium,  pass  behind  that  building,  and  a  mo 
ment  later  are  in  the  tool-house.  So  far  as  danger 
to  other  property  is  concerned  there  is  no  reason 
why  the  tool-house  should  not  be  blown  up :  a  re 
flection  somewhat  comforting  to  Jack,  who  in  spite 
of  his  elation  is  conscious  of  a  qualm  or  two  as  he 
realizes  what  he  is  about  to  do.  No  one  can  pos- 


THE   BIG  FOUR.  279 

sibly  be  injured,  he  argues,  and  the  tool-house  is 
really  of  no  use. 

By  the  light  of  the  dark  lantern  they  arrange 
the  cans  of  powder  in  such  a  manner  as  to  be  most 
effective,  and  lay  the  fuse.  Then  Jack,  who  has 
lighted  a  bit  of  slow  match,  after  taking  a  peep 
outside  to  make  sure  that  all  is  clear,  sets  fire  to 
the  train,  which  has  been  timed  to  burn  for  ten 
minutes,  so  as  to  permit  every  one  to  get  back  to 
bed  before  the  shock  comes.  This  done,  the  two 
imitators  of  Guy  Fawkes  slip  out  into  the  dark 
ness  and  make  a  bee-line  for  home. 

Somehow  or  other  there  is  very  apt  to  be  some 
little  flaw  capable  of  ruining  all,  even  in  the  most 
skillfully  arranged  plot,  and,  happily  or  unhappily, 
as  you  choose  to  regard  it,  the  one  in  question 
proved  no  exception  to  the  general  rule.  More 
over,  it  was  through  the  carelessness  of  our  friend 
Jack  that  matters  did  not  turn  out  wholly  as  was 
expected.  Although  quite  aware  that  Argus  in  the 
person  of  Horace  Hosmer  slept  in  an  L  of  the 
gymnasium,  the  window  of  which  commanded  a 
view  of  the  premises  doomed  to  destruction,  Guy 
Fawkes  was  rash  enough  not  to  close  his  lantern 


280  JACK   HALL. 

until  just  after  stepping  into  the  open  air,  so  that  a 
few  rays  managed  to  shoot  themselves  directly  into 
the  watch-dog's  eyes  with  the  effect  of  rousing  the 
vigilant  sleeper  from  his  couch  and  inducing  him 
to  take  a  peep  outside.  It  was  all  dark  now,  but 
suspicion  once  awakened  is  not  easily  allayed  in  a 
faithful  soul,  and  Horace's  was  of  the  faithful  kind. 
Hastily  pulling  on  a  pair  of  boots  and  diving  into 
an  overcoat,  he  vaulted  over  the  window-sill,  and 
put  in  an  appearance  on  the  other  side  of  the 
gymnasium  before  the  boys  were  more  than  two 
thirds  across  the  quadrangle. 

Trepidation  has  eyes  in  the  back  of  her  head,  as 
we  well  know.  Consequently  this  new  presence 
on  the  field  of  night  was  spotted  by  Horton  even 
before  Horace's  well-known  stentorian  voice  broke 

in  upon  the  stillness  with,  — 

\ 
"  Come,  now,  what 's  your  business  ?  " 

There  was  no  time  for  parley.  Increased  speed 
had  forestalled  the  bark  of  Argus,  and  inc-reased 
speed  answered  it.  The  wings  of  fear  vibrated 
fiercely  in  the  darkness.  The  pursued  had  this 
advantage  that  they  knew  that  unless  they  reached 
the  basket  in  time  to  get  clear  of  terra  firma  be- 


AN  ESCAPE. 


THE  BIG  FOUR.  283 

fore  the  janitor  was  upon  them  they  were  "gone 
coons."  Not  a  word  was  spoken  by  either  of  the 
terror-stricken  incendiaries,  but  their  flight  was 
that  of  those  who  have  but  one  hope. 

Jack  was  the  first  to  arrive.  Happily  for  the 
hunted,  their  companions  had  not  been  napping, 
but  were  keenly  on  the  watch  for  them.  The 
basket  was  ready.  Guy  Fawkes  leaped  into  it  and 
squatted  down,  closely  followed  by  his  mate. 

"  Pull  for  all  you  're  worth." 

Those  above,  quick  to  perceive  that  there  was 
mischief  in  the  wind,  set  themselves  to  their  task 
with  such  good  will  that  the  aerial  car  fairly 
bounded  from  the  ground  in  its  ascending  ^course. 
But  none  too  soon.  Hardly  was  it  beyond  the  reach 
of  a  tall  man  when  the  cause  of  all  this  undigni 
fied  haste  came  tearing  round  the  angle  of  the 
dormitory.  Horace  made  one  desperate  leap  in  the 
air,  only,  however,  to  scratch  his  nails  against  the 
bricks  in  falling  back.  By  the  time  he  had  re 
gained  his  balance  the  basket  was  at  the  top,  and 
he  could  only  catch  a  confused  impression  of  gro 
tesque  faces  surmounting  youthful  bodies  before  the 
masqueraders  were  safe  indoors,  and  fleeing  like 


284  JACK  HALL. 

stealthy  deer  to  their  respective  quarters,  where  they 
lost  no  time  in  slipping  off  their  clothes  and  get 
ting  into  bed.  So  precipitate  was  their  flight  that 
they  neglected  to  return  the  beer  -  bottles  and 
glasses  to  the  cupboard  in  which  they  were  ordi 
narily  concealed,  an  oversight  which  filled  the  ner 
vous  Bill  with  dismay  when  it  occurred  to  him  after 
his  head  was  on  the  pillow.  As  for  the  basket,  it 
fell  backward  from  the  window-sill  the  moment  it 
was  empty,  almost  on  to  the  head  of  the  astonished 
Horace,  who  examined  it  curiously. 

"  Well,  well,"  he  muttered,  "  these  are  fine  do 
ings.  My  eyes  ain't  what  they  used  to  be,  but 
I  've  a  pretty  decided  notion  as  to  who  you  are,  my 
young  masters,  all  the  same.  What  in  time  were 
you  up  to,  I  wonder  ?  Ha  !  what 's  this  ?  " 

Horace,  from  a  constitutional  habit  of  thorough 
ness,  had  been  passing  his  hand  over  the  bottom  of 
the  basket,  and  his  last  exclamation  was  due  to  the 
fact  of  its  coming  in  contact  with  a  small  article 
which  on  inspection  proved  to  be  a  pocket-knife. 

"  H'm,"  he  chuckled,  "  Heaven  sends  biscuit  to 
them  as  has  no  teeth,  as  the  minister  used  to  say.:' 
After  which  pertinent  observation  the  honest  fel- 


THE   BIG  FOUR.  285 

low  slipped  the  treasure  trove  into  his  pocket  and 
was  taking  up  the  basket  again  with  a  view  to  ap 
propriating  it  as  evidence,  when  a  loud  crash  pro 
ceeding  from  the  direction  of  the  gymnasium  awoke 
the  echoes  of  Utopia. 

"  Holy  Moses ! "  ejaculated  the  janitor,  as  he 
turned  just  in  season  to  behold  a  column  of  smoke 
and  rubbish  rise  in  the  near  distance.  Whereupon 
he  started  as  fast  as  his  legs  could  carry  him  to  the 
new  scene  of  action. 

Needless  to  say,  the  four  conspirators  heard  with 
mingled  sensations  of  joy  and  anxiety  the  reverbe 
ration  which  informed  them  that  their  efforts  had 
not  been  in  vain.  To  Jack  at  least  the  noise, 
though  clearly  perceptible,  was  not  so  loud  as  he 
had  hoped  and  anticipated.  It  had  been  his  ambi 
tion  to  have  not  only  the  whole  dormitory  awak 
ened,  but  authority  itself  startled  from  sweet  slum 
ber  and  forced  to  put  its  head  out  of  doors  in 
search  of  cause  and  effect.  He  experienced,  there 
fore,  some  little  disappointment  from  the  fact  that 
only  two  or  three  boys  within  reach  of  his  own 
observation  were  awakened,  and  even  they  turned 
over  to  sleep  again  after  listening  for  a  moment 


286  JACK   HALL. 

for  further  developments.  He  was  much  too  wide 
awake  himself  to  sleep,  but  lay  revolving  in  his 
mind  the  probable  consequences  of  Horace's  unto 
ward  interruption.  Had  Argus  recognized  them  ? 
That  was  the  all-important  point,  uncertainty  as  to 
which  was  far  from  pleasant  to  Jack,  despite  his 
boasted  indifference  to  authority.  Visions  of  being 
dismissed  from  Utopia  floated  with  disagreeable 
persistency  before  his  mind's  eye.  What  would  his 
mother  say  ?  He  might  well  ask  himself  that  ques 
tion. 

Although  the  repose  of  authority  was  not  dis 
turbed,  authority  heard  with  amazement  on  the 
following  morning  the  news  which  Horace  had  to 
tell  it  immediately  after  breakfast  5  and  Jack  could 
have  no  reason  this  time  to  complain  that  authority 
was  slow  to  take  notice,  if  the  buzz  of  rumors  float 
ing  about  the  school  were  any  index  of  authority's 
state  of  mind.  The  impression  produced  on  the 
youthful  mind  itself  by  the  announcement  of  what 
had  taken  place  was  profound.  There  was  an  exo 
dus  at  once  to  view  the  ruins,  over  which  the  faith 
ful  janitor  was  presiding  with  a  sphinx-like  grin 
that  to  Jack,  who  had  strolled  down  with  the  rest 


THE  BIG  FOUR. 

to  behold  the  result  of  his  handiwork,  did  not  seem 

reassuring. 

At  the  first  opportunity  the  guilty  parties  held  a 
hurried  consultation  for  mutual  encouragement  and 
the  comparing  of  notes.  Nothing  was  forthcoming 
except  that  the  Doctor,  after  visiting  the  scene  of 
the  explosion,  had  granted  an  audience  to  Horace 
Hosmer,  with  whom  he  was  still  closeted.  Mean 
while  the  ordinary  school  programme  was  going 
on  as  usual.  Such  suspense,  though  wellnigh  un 
endurable,  was  relieved  in  due  time.  Late  in  the 
afternoon  a  summons  came  that  French,  llorton, 
and  Hall  were  to  go  to  the  1  room  at  once, 

but  separately,  and  in  the  order  named. 

There  was  only  time  for  a  passing  word  between 
the  trio. 

"  Mind  we  tell  the  same  story  and  stick  to  it," 
whispered  Bill  in  Jack's  ear  before  he  followed  the 
messenger.  "  We  never  knew  anything  until  we 
heard  the  explosion." 

Jack  stood  watching  the  receding  figure  of  the 
Pater  Primus  with  a  troubled  air.  The  situation 
seemed  decidedly  perplexing.  Authority,  for  some 
reason  or  other  of  its  own,  saw  fit  that  those  com- 


288  JACK   HALL. 

ing  after  should  have  no  opportunity  to  hear  what 
was  in  store  for  them  from  friendly  lips.  Conse 
quently  the  third  conspirator  on  the  list  was  ushered 
into  its  injured  presence  without  knowing  what  had 
been  the  experience  of  his  predecessors. 

Doctor  Meredith,  who  was  alone,  greeted  the  cul 
prit  gravely  and  said,  after  a  moment's  hesitation, 
in  a  composed  but  serious  tone:  "During  the  last 
six  months,  Hall,  there  have  been  a  number  of  very 
troublesome  bits  of  mischief  perpetrated  in  the 
school.  The  property  of  people  in  the  neighborhood 
has  been  molested,  fireworks  have  been  discharged 
in  the  yard  without  permission,  and  a  genei'al  dis 
position  to  break  rules  on  the  part  of  a  certain  num 
ber  of  individuals  has  been  apparent.  I  have  been 
very  slow  to  take  notice  of  this,  hoping  that  the 
matters  complained  of  were  merely  the  result  of 
the  high  spirits  natural  to  boys.  But  I  have  been 
very  much  annoyed  by  it,  for  up  to  this  time  I  have 
had  to  deal  with  nothing  of  the  sort  at  Utopia." 

During  the  pause  which  elapsed  before  he  contin 
ued,  Jack  was  able  to  congratulate  himself  that  his 
previous  endeavors  had  not  been  so  much  ignored  as 
he  had  at  one  time  feared. 


THE   BIG  FOUR.  289 

"  Last  night,"  his  inquisitor  proceeded,  still  more 
gravely,  "  as  you  must  be  already  aware,  the  tool- 
house  was  blown  up  by  some  malicious  person  or 
persons.  Doubtless  it  was  done  as  a  practical  joke, 
and  I  am  willing  to  believe  that  whoever  was  en 
gaged  in  the  affair  did  not  appreciate  the  serious 
character  of  the  act  committed.  But  all  the  same 
it  was  an  abominable  piece  of  mischief,  and  one 
which  it  is  my  duty  and  intention  to  investigate 
thoroughly,  with  a  view  to  putting  down,  once  and 
for  all,  the  spirit  of  reckless  insubordination  which 
it  is  now  evident  to  me  has  broken  out  here." 

Once  more  the  Doctor  paused,  as  though  he 
expected  some  observation  from  his  auditor,  who, 
having  none  to  make,  sought  refuge  from  his  own 
discomfort  and  his  master's  penetrating  eye,  by 
looking  down  at  the  floor. 

"  I  have  sent  for  you,  Hall,  to  ask  if  you  were 
concerned  in  the  affair." 

The  room  seemed  painfully  still  to  Jack,  and  the 
silence  which  followed  this  inquiry  oppressive.  How 
should  he  answer  the  question  ?  If  the  Doctor 
knew  all,  why  had  he  not  taxed  him  directly  with 
having  blown  up  the  tool-house,  instead  of  asking 


290  JACK  HALL. 

him  if  he  was  concerned  in  it?  The  doctor  evi 
dently  had  suspicions  merely,  and  was  groping  in 
the  dark.  What  was  there  to  prove  his  guilt  ex 
cept  his  own  admissions  ? 

During  the  brief  interval  in  which  these  thoughts 
were  passing  through  Jack's  mind,  he  was  conscious 
of  his  interrogator's  eye  bent  on  him  searchingly  — 
yet  beseechingly,  as  it  were. 

"  You  have  not  answered  me,  Hall." 

"Yes,  sir;  I  was." 

Jack  was  too  self-absorbed  to  notice  the  sigh  of 
relief  which  the  Doctor  gave  vent  to.  One  could 
have  heard  a  pin  drop. 

"  I  am  very  sorry  to  hear  it.  You  were  not  alone, 
I  judge,"  added  his  master,  after  a  moment. 

"  I  lighted  the  fuse  myself,  sir,"  was  the  diplo 
matic  reply. 

"  I  see  that  you  do  not  choose  to  name  your  asso 
ciates." 

"  I  have  not  said  that  I  had  any,"  Jack  answered 
stoutly. 

"I  respect  your  views  on  that  point,  and  shall 
question  you  no  further  in  the  matter.  As  for  your 
own  conduct,  there  is  but  one  word  to  characterize 


THE  BIG  FOUR.  291 

it,"  continued  Dr.  Meredith,  —  "  shameful.  I  do 
not  understand  what  motive  you  can  have  had  to 
destroy  the  property  of  the  school.  What  was 
your  motive  ?  "  Jack  looked  sheepish.  "  I  sup 
pose  it  was  sheer  love  of  mischief,"  pursued  the 
Doctor,  as  though  soliloquizing. 

"  Yes,  sir." 

"  Have  you  not  always  been  well  treated  here  ? 
Have  you  any  cause  of  complaint?" 

"  No,  sir." 

"  What  in  one  sense  is  even  a  more  serious  mat 
ter,  empty  beer-bottles  and  glasses  were  found  this 
morning  in  the  vacant  study.  They  belong  to  you, 
I  take  it?" 

Jack  bit  his  lip.  This  charge  was  harder  to  as 
sume  the  entire  responsibility  for.  But  he  was  in 
for  it  now  and  must  face  the  music. 

"  Yes,  sir,"  he  replied,  rather  dejectedly. 

The  Doctor  was  silent  for  a  moment.  "  Hall,  I 
am  very  much  disappointed  in  you,"  he  said,  in  a 
manner  so  unexpectedly  genuine  that  somehow  or 
other  the  words  cut  like  a  knife  into  the  sensibili 
ties  of  poor  Jack,  and  in  a  sudden  flash  he  saw  his 
own  conduct  almost  in  its  true  light.  "  This  is  not 


292  JACK   HALL. 

the  first  time,  by  any  means,  that  I  have  had  occa 
sion  to  be  disturbed  at  your  conduct.  I  cannot 
have  at  this  school,"  he  added,  "  boys  who  drink 
beer  on  the  sly  and  blow  up  buildings.  I  have  not 
quite  decided  what  action  I  shall  take  in  your  par 
ticular  case.  You  may  go  for  the  present.  When 
I  want  you  I  will  send  for  you." 

Jack  stood  hesitating.  "  May  I  ask  a  question  ?" 
he  said. 

"  What  is  it  ?  " 

"  How  were  we  found  out  ?  —  er  —  that  is,  how 
did  you  know  it  was  I  ?  " 

"  The  janitor  thought  he  recognized  you  ;  but 
he  was  not  sure.  If  you  had  seen  fit  to  tell  a  false 
hood  you  might  have  escaped.  I  thank  God,  my 
dear  boy,  that  you  had  courage  enough  to  resist 
that  far  worse  fault  than  the  faults  you  have  been 
guilty  of." 

There  were  tears  in  the  Doctor's  eyes,  and  a 
strange  tremor  in  his  voice,  that  brought  drops  to 
Jack's  own,  of  which  he  became  conscious  when  he 
was  outside  the  study-door.  He  had  never  felt  so 
miserable  in  his  life,  and  yet  knew  that  he  was 
proud  of  the  course  he  had  taken. 


THE  BIG  FOUR.  293 

A  few  minutes  later  he  was  eagerly  confronted 
by  his  associates. 

"  He  does  n't  know  anything,  does  he  ?  "  ex 
claimed  Bill. 

"  What  do  you  mean  ?  " 

"  You  did  n't  let  on,  of  course  ?  He  asked  me 
if  I  had  anything  to  do  with  blowing  up  the  tool- 
house,  and  I  told  him  no.  So  did  Horton." 

"  But  you  did,"  said  Jack. 

"  Do  you  mean  to  say  you  gave  us  all  away  ?  " 
shrieked  Bill. 

"  Your  names  were  n't  mentioned.  I  was  n't  go 
ing  to  lie  about  it.  The  Doctor  asked  me  if  I 
was  n't  concerned  in  it,  and  I  said  I  was." 

"  Hang  me  if  you  aren't  the  biggest  flat  I  ever 
struck ! " 

"  That 's  so,"  said  Horton,  who,  as  you  must 
know  by  this  time,  was  only  an  echo  of  Bill,  which 
is  a  pretty  feeble  kind  of  part  to  play  in  life,  as 
parts  go. 

"  If  you  had  only  kept  your  mouth  shut  we  'd 
have  been  all  right.  Horace  only  guessed  at  us," 
continued  the  irate  Pater  Primus.  "  I  'd  back  you 
for  a  flat  against  the  world." 


294  JACK  HALL. 

"  That 's  so." 

"  Shut  your  head ! "  growled  Jack.  "  I  don't 
want  to  hear  any  more  guff  from  either  of  you. 
I  wasn't  going  to  lie  for  you  or  any  other  fellow, 
Bill  French." 

"  We  '11  kick  you  out  of  the  society,  see  if  we 
don't.  You  've  broken  the  oaths,  and  you  '11  be 
mighty  lucky  if  we  don't  vote  to  make  cat's  meat 
of  you,"  persisted  Bill,  who,  when  his  imagination 
got  working,  had  a  nasty  tongue,  as  the  saying  is. 
This  last  fling  so  enraged  our  hero  —  who  has 
become,  I  think,  just  a  little  bit  of  a  hero  in  spite 
of  his  shortcomings  —  that  he  made  a  dash  at  his 
chief  insulter  with  a  view  to  slapping  his  face. 
But  the  prudent  William  had  made  sure  of  his 
distance  before  venturing  upon  so  exasperating  a 
speech. 

Jack  was  in  no  frame  of  mind  to  pursue  his  ma- 
ligners.  He  felt  very  much  down  in  the  mouth. 
Now  that  the  prospect  of  being  sent  home  in  dis 
grace  was  imminent,  the  advantages  of  remaining 
a  Utopia  boy  seemed  very  great.  He  could  not 
bear  the  thought  of  being  expelled,  and  yet  he 
knew  that  he  could  scarcely  hope  for  any  less  seri- 


THE  BIG  FOUR.  295 

ous  sentence.  The  others  would  get  off,  and  he 
would  have  to  bear  the  brunt  of  it  all. 

In  his  agitation  he  started  off  at  a  rapid  pace 
without  heeding  where  he  was  going.  Chance  led 
him  toward  the  lake,  and  a  few  moments  later  he 
was  in  his  wherry  pulling  fiercely  from  sheer  des 
peration  over  the  tranquil  water.  There  were  not 

% 

many  scullers  out  this  afternoon,  but  he  recognized 
in  the  distance  the  shapely  figure  of  Tom  Bonsall, 
whose  clean-cut,  sweeping  stroke  it  was  not  easy 
to  mistake.  Jack  ground  his  teeth  as  he  reflected 
not  only  that  he  and  Tom  could  not  at  present 
be  regarded  as  rivals,  but  that  they  now  never 
could  become  so.  Stung  by  the  bitterness  of  the 
thought,  he  plied  the  oars  savagely  with  a  reck 
less  expenditure  of  energy.  When  at  last  he 
gave  in  for  a  moment  from  sheer  exhaustion,  his 
shell  shot  close  past  another,  narrowly  escaping  a 
collision. 

"  Whoa,  there!  Hold  your  horses ! "  cried  a  well- 
known  voice. 

It  was  Carlisle's.  At  any  other  time  Jack  would 
have  been  only  too  glad  of  his  friend's  company; 
now  his  inclination  was  to  get  away  from  every- 


296  JACK   HALL. 

body.  Without  remark  he  began  rowing  again 
with  lightning  speed,  evidently  to  the  surprise  of 
Carlisle,  who,  after  watching  him  for  a  moment, 
proceeded  to  follow  in  his  wake,  taking  it  quietly, 
but  pulling  a  long,  steady  stroke.  Jack  was  deter 
mined  to  throw  him  off,  but  though  he  struggled 
with  all  his  might,  his  pursuer  crept  up  on  him 
inch  by  inch  without  seeming  to  make  any  special 
exertion.  So  frantically  did  he  work  to  keep  the 
lead  that  he  soon  began  to  splash,  and  finally,  to 
his  utter  disgust,  caught  a  crab  just  as  Carlisle  was 
lapping  him.  Before  he  could  recover  himself  they 
were  abreast. 

"  My  dear  youngster,"  began  his  friend  without 
observing  Jack's  face,  "  you  will  never  learn  to  row 
if  you  spend  yourself  so  soon.  You  can't  keep 
that  stroke  up.  It 's  simply  suicidal." 

"  Why  can't  you  let  me  alone?  What  right  have 
you  to  follow  me  ?  "  was  the  fierce  reply. 

Naturally  Carlisle  looked  completely  bewildered. 
"  No  right,  if  you  don't  want  me  to,"  he  said  quietly. 
Then  he  added,  with  kind  solicitude,  "  What 's  up, 
Jack  ?  Are  you  ill,  old  fellow  ?  " 

Jack    shook    his    head    after   a    moment.      He 


THE   BIG  FOUR.  297 

was  looking  the  other  way  to  hide  his  welling 
tears. 

"  Tell  me  what 's  the  trouble.  Perhaps  I  can 
help  you,"  said  Carlisle  presently. 

"It  isn't  one  thing:  it's  everything,"  sobbed 
Jack.  "However,  there  '11  be  an  end  of  it  to 
morrow,"  he  continued  enigmatically. 

"  What  do  you  mean  by  that?  " 

"It  was-I  who  blew  up  the  tool-house  last  night." 

"You,  Jack!"  Carlisle  exclaimed,  aghast.  "How 
could  you  ! " 

Then  realizing  instantly  that  this  was  not  the 
occasion  for  reproof,  he  hastened  to  ask,  "  Does  the 
Doctor  know  ?  "• 

"Yes,"  said  Jack,  who  had  turned  his  face  to 
observe  the  effect  on  his  friend  of  the  first  an 
nouncement. 

A  few  words  made  Carlisle  familiar  with  the 
whole  story.  Jack  did  not  hesitate  to  inform  him 
just  how  matters  stood,  knowing  that  his  senior 
would  be  in  honor  bound  not  to  mention  to  others 
the  conduct  of  Bill  and  Horton. 

"  There  can  be  only  one  end  to  it,"  he  said,  in 
conclusion.  "  He  '11  make  an  example  of  me  for 


298  JACK  HALL. 

the  good  of  the  school.  Well,  let  him,"  he  added, 
his  voice  again  breaking,  "  1  don't  care." 

"  Yes,  you  do  care.  The  cowardly  sneaks !  " 
ejaculated  Carlisle. 

"  If  they  had  owned  up,  there  would  have  been 
three  instead  of  one,  that 's  all.  It  would  n't  have 
helped  me  any.  I  'm  glad  of  one  thing,  Louis : 
Horace  did  n't  spot  Hasy." 

The  other  was  silent  a  moment.  "  It 's  all  my 
fault,"  he  burst  out  at  last.  "  I  ought  to  have 
protected  you  against  that  fellow.  I  marked  him 
as  a  low-lived  beggar  before  he  had  been  here  a 
week.  The  trouble  is,  I  am  so  miserably  selfish 
that  I  am  taken  up  with  my  own  affairs  all  the 
time." 

44  Indeed,  that  is  not  true,  Louis.  On  the  con 
trary,  you  've  been  at  me  all  the  time  trying  to 
keep  me  straight.  It 's  no  one's  fault  but  my  own. 
I  see  it  plainly  now.  I  've  made  an  ass  of  myself, 
and  the  result  is  I  shall  break  my  mother's  heart 
by  being  expelled." 

44  Time  enough  to  talk  in  that  style,  youngster, 
when  it  happens.  I  '11  see  the  Doctor  myself," 
continued  Carlisle.  44  Perhaps  he  '11  be  willing  to 


THE   BIG   FOUR.  299 

give  you  another  chance.  There 's  no  harm  in  try 
ing,  at  any  rate.  If  he  can  be  made  to  believe  that 
you  're  ready  to  turn  over  a  new  leaf,  I  know  he  '11 
let  you  stay.  But  you  must  promise  me,  Jack, 
that  if  he  does,  you  will  make  a  fresh  deal  all 
round,"  he  added,  earnestly.  "  I  'm  slack  enough 
myself,  Heaven  knows,  and  not  fitted  to  give  ad 
vice  to  any  one,  but  I  've  lived  two  or  three  years 
longer  than  you ;  and  have  learned  at  least  that  a 
fellow  can't  do  everything  that  he  wants  in  this 
world.  One  has  to  recognize  it  sooner  or  later. 
The  trouble  with  you,  as  I  told  you  once  before,  is 
that  you  want  the  earth.  You  can't  have  it,  and 
the  sooner  you  make  up  your  mind  to  the  fact  the 
better  for  you." 

"  I  will  do  my  best,  Louis,  I  promise  you.  I 
wish  though  I  thought  that  there  was  ever  a  chance 
of  rny  being  half  so  good  as  you." 

"  Nonsense,  youngster.  You  've  no  idea,"  he 
added,  "  of  what  a  poor  thing  I  am." 

"  You  are  looking  in  first-rate  condition  this 
term,"  responded  Jack,  with  a  just  perception  of 
how  to  please  his  friend.  "I  never  saw  a  fellow 
improve  so  in  appearance  as  you  have  in  a  year." 


300  JACK   HALL. 

"  It 's  Dr.  Bolles'  lectures,"  said  Carlisle,  with  a 
gratified  smile.  "  I  owe  it  all  to  him." 

"  And  if  I  ever  improve,"  observed  Jack  quietly, 
u  I  shall  owe  it  all  to  you,  Louis." 


CHAPTER  X. 

UP-HILL. 

THREE  days  later  the  whole  school  was  called 
together  directly  after  breakfast  to  hear  a  commu 
nication  from  Dr.  Meredith.  No  one  knew  pre 
cisely,  what  was  in  the  wind,  but  all  sorts  of  rumors 
had  been  floating  about  ever  since  the  morning 
subsequent  to  the  explosion.  The  only  one  of  these 
that  appeared  to  have  substantial  foundation  was 
the  report  which  had  gained  currency  within  the 
last  twenty-four  hours  that  Horton  was  to  leave  for 
good.  The  reason  was  not  known  beyond  a  gen 
eral  suspicion  that  his  departure  was  connected  with 
the  destruction  of  the  tool-house.  When  it  was 
ascertained  that  he  had  actually  gone  early  in  the 
morning  without  bidding  good-by  to  anybody,  the 
excitement  was  at  fever  heat.  What  added  to  the 
mystery  was  that  Jack  Hall,  whose  confession  of 
the  daring  deed  had  leaked  out,  still  remained. 

Utopia  was  puzzled,  to  say  the  least,  and  was 


302  JACK  HALL. 

very  prompt  in  filing  into  the  schoolroom  to  listen 
to  the  expected  solution  of  the  enigma.  Thither 
the  Doctor  came  too,  on  the  stroke  of  the  hour, 
looking  sad,  and  accompanied  by  all  the  masters, 
who  ranged  themselves  about  him  as  at  one  of  the 
school  exhibitions.  Before  him  on  the  desk  lay  a 
suggestive  ferule,  the  unaccustomed  sight  of  which 
caused  expectancy  to  stand  on  tiptoe. 

"  Boys  of  Utopia  School,"  said  Dr.  Meredith 
with  solemnity,  "  as  you  all  know,  an  unpardon- 
ably  malicious  piece  of  mischief  was  committed 
against  the  school  property  a  few  days  since.  It 
was  the  last  and  most  offensive  in  a  series  of  delib 
erate  acts  of  insubordination  which  have  caused  me 
much  annoyance,  and  which  I  have  put  up  with  too 
long,  I  am  inclined  to  think,  for  the  best  good  of 
those  concerned  in  them.  By  chance,"  continued 
the  Doctor,  after  a  moment's  delay,  "  suspicion  fast 
ened  itself  on  certain  members  of  the  school,  who 
were  sent  for  by  me  and  questioned  on  the  subject. 
One  boy  confessed  to  having  been  directly  connected 
with  the  explosion ;  the  others  denied  alt  knowl 
edge  of  it.  As  it  happened,  the  evidence  pos 
sessed  by  us  was  not  definite  enough  to  convict  as 


UP-HILL.  303 

against  his  own  word  any  one  of  those  suspected, 
with  a  single  exception,  and  I  will  add  that  at  the 
time  I  had  no  knowledge  which  of  the  boys  sum 
moned  this  exception  applied  to.  The  janitor  who 
pursued  the  incendiaries  on  the  night  in  question 
found  in  the  basket,  which  was  left  by  them  hanging 
from  the  window,  a  penknife.  This  penknife,"  said 
the  Doctor  slowly,  "  was  proved  to  belong,  I  regret 
with  deep -sorrow  to  state,  to  one  of  the  boys  who 
had  denied  in  unqualified  terms  any  knowledge  of 
the  outrage  which  had  been  committed.  That  boy 
is  no  longer  a  member  of  this  school.  I  have 
written  to  his  parents  to  remove  him,  and  early  this 
morning  he  left  Utopia. 

"  If  there  is  anything  that  is  odious  to  me,"  he 
continued  presently,  after  the  murmur  which  fol 
lowed  this  announcement  had  subsided,  "  and  which 
I  am  determined  to  root  out  of  this  school  at  any 
cost,  it  is  falsehood.  I  made  a  point  to  caution 
each  one  of  you  against  it,  my  dear  boys,  at  the 
time  you  entered  Utopia,  and  my  constant  prayer 
is  that  your  souls  may  be  kept  clean  from  this 
deadly  foe  to  character.  What  is  most  threat 
ening  to-day  in  the  outlook  for  the  noble  develop- 


304  JACK   HALL. 

ment  of  this  great  democratic  country  of  ours  is 
the  tendency  to  condone  too  easily  embezzlement, 
breaches  of  trust,  bribery,  and  other  forms  of  pub 
lic  and  private  dishonesty,  the  kernel  of  which  is 
deceit,  and  in  the  fostering  of  which  lies  national 
ruin.  If,"  he  said,  looking  round  the  schoolroom, 
"  there  is  any  boy  here  to-day  who  is  so  unhappy 
as  to  have  a  lie  on  his  conscience,  I  beseech  him  as 
his  master  and  his  friend  to  let  it  be  there  no  longer. 
Any  punishment  that  he  may  be  called  upon  to 
bear  will  be  as  nothing  compared  with  the  evil 
which  concealment  will  work  upon  his  character 
and  life." 

As  the  Doctor  paused  and  seemed  to  be  waiting 
for  some  one  to  step  forward,  each  boy  glanced  at 
his  neighbor,  wondering  for  the  most  part  who  was 
meant.  Jack,  who  had  been  listening  with  fever 
ish  impatience  to  every  word,  refrained  from  look 
ing  directly  at  Bill,  but  managed  to  take  a  peep  at 
him  sideways.  To  all  appearances  the  Pater  Pri 
mus  was  completely  at  his  ease  and  indisposed  to 
follow  the  hint  thrown  out  to  him.  No  one  stirred, 
and  the  silence,  which  became  oppressive  at  last, 
was  broken  by  the  master,  who  resumed  rather 
sadly  :  — 


UP-HILL.  305 

"  When  the  boy  who  was  manly  enough  to  con 
fess  his  wrong-doing  left  my  presence  the  other  day, 
I  thought  that  it  would  be  necessary  for  me  in  or 
der  to  maintain  the  dignity  of  the  school  to  inflict 
the  most  serious  punishment  in  my  power  —  that 
is  expulsion.  I  should  have  hated  to  do  so,  for  I 
like  the  boy,  deeply  as  I  deplore  the  rank  insub 
ordination  arid  gross  idleness  of  which  he  has  been 
guilty  since  he  came  to  Utopia.  I  am  ready  to  be 
lieve  that  it  will  be  more  for  his  good  to  remain 
among  us  than  to  be  sent  away  in  disgrace  ;  and  I 
am  heartily  glad  that  the  greater  fault  committed 
by  another  enables  me  to  exercise  leniency  in  his 
particular  case.  I  have  been  given  to  understand 
by  those  interested  in  him,"  pursued  the  Doctor, 
"  that  he  is  sorry  for  his  ill  behavior  and  anxious 
to  turn  over  a  new  leaf.  I  shall  give  him  the 
chance  to  do  so ;  _  but  I  am  obliged  nevertheless 
not  to  pass  by  without  serious  notice  the  wicked 
breach  of  discipline  which  he  committed  in  wan 
tonly  destroying  the  property  of  the  school.  There 
was  no  excuse  for  the  act  whatever,  and  it  was  sin 
gularly  unprovoked  and  impertinent.  Therefore  I 
am  compelled  to  have  recourse  to  a  form  of  pun- 


306  JACK  HALL. 

isbment  which,  except  in  the  most  extreme  cases, 
should  not  be  employed  by  a  master.  I  am  glad  to 
say  that  never  before  while  I  have  been  at  Utopia 
has  it  been  necessary  for  me  to  whip  a  pupil.  I  am 
about  to  do  so  now  because  of  the  unusual  nature 
of  the  offense  of  which  he  has  been  guilty.  —  Hall, 
you  will  come  forward  to  receive  a  public  whip 
ping." 

There  was  a  painful  silence,  and  then  poor  Jack, 
who  had  been  sent  for  by  the  Doctor  late  on  the 
previous  evening  and  informed  as  to  what  was  in 
store  for  him,  arose  and  walked  down  the  aisle. 
His  blood  was  boiling  with  shame  and  anger,  but 
at  the  same  time  he  had  made  up  his  mind  to  sub 
mit  to  the  flogging  and  to  bear  it  without  flinching, 
in  acknowledgment  of  the  kind  words  of  encourage 
ment  and  friendship  which  his  master  had  spoken 
to  him  when  he  told  him  Avhat  his  punishment  was 
to  be,  —  words  which  made  Jack  see  more  clearly 
than  before  how  reckless  and  foolish  he  had  been, 
and  resolve  with  bitter  tears  before  he  went  to  sleep 
to  try  once  more  to  resist  temptation.  Now,  gall 
ing  as  was  the  ordeal,  and  though  the  tears  of  mor 
tification  welled  into  his  eyes  in  spite  of  resolute 


UP-HILL.  807 

biting  of  the  lips,  he  walked  quietly  up  to  the 
desk. 

Dr.  Meredith  had  risen  and  stood  ready  with  the 
ferule. 

"  Hold  out  your  right  hand,  Hall." 

Jack  obeyed. 

Down  came  the  blows  —  one,  two,  three,  four, 
five,  six,  seven,  eight,  nine,  ten,  eleven,  twelve, 
thirteen,  fourteen,  fifteen  ;  — no  love  pats,  but  gen 
uine  hard  stinging  blows  which  were  meant  to  hurt, 
and  which  did  hurt. 

"  Now,  the  other  hand." 

Fifteen  more  followed  no  less  scorching  than  their 
predecessors. 

"  That  will  do.     You  may  take  your  seat." 

Jack,  whose  only  consolation  at  the  moment  was 
that  he  had  not  winced,  got  back  to  his  desk  some 
how  or  other,  and  heard  as  in  a  daze  the  faltering 
voice  of  his  castigator  in  conclusion  :  — 

"  I  hope  to  heaven,  my  dear  boys,  that  it  will 
never  be  necessary  for  me  to  do  such  a  thing  again. 
I  would  much  rather,  believe  me,  that  every  one  of 
those  blows  had  been  on  my  own  hands.  The  pain 
would  have  been  far  less  than  what  I  suffered  in  in 
flicting  them." 


308  JACK   HALL. 

A  moment  later  Jack  knew  that  the  school  had 
arisen  and  was  pouring  out  of  the  room.  He  had 
covered  his  face  with  his  hands  and  bent  his  head 
upon  the  desk.  Sob  followed  sob  in  quick  succes 
sion,  and  his  heart  seemed  to  be  bursting.  Carlisle, 
who  had  remained  behind,  stood  over  him  and 
stroked  his  head  gently.  After  such  an  experience, 
a  nature  strong  and  virile  as  Jack's  must  needs  find 
a  vent  for  its  pent-up  anguish.  But  bitter  as  were 
his  feelings,  he  knew  in  his  heart  that  he  had  de 
served  his  punishment. 

It  was  many  weeks  before  Jack  recovered  his 
spirits.  At  first  he  walked  about  with  a  crestfallen 
air,  like  one  in  disgrace.  He  kept  apart  by  himself, 
and  instead  of  the  spirited  leader  of  old,  seemed 
subdued  and  unimpi'essionable.  He  did  not  enter 
for  the  spring  events  either  at  the  athletic  meeting 
or  on  the  lake,  and  was  judged  by  many  to  have 
lost  all  interest  in  sports.  His  changed  demeanor 
gave  a  chance  to  Bill  French  to  circulate  the  opinion 
expressed  at  the  time  of  his  confession,  that  he  was 
a  flat,  and  such  is  the  tendency  of  boys  to  deprecate 
what  they  cannot  understand  that  there  were  some 
who  in  their  surprise  at  his  apparent,  listlessness 


UP-HILL.  309 

adopted  Bill's  view  of  the  case.  Even  Haseltine  was 
staggered  at  his  friend's  lack  of  enthusiasm  over  the 
prowess  of  the  school  nine,  which,  under  the  cap 
taincy  of  the  "  Kid,"  had  been  plucking  unexpected 
laurels  from  visiting  and  visited  teams,  and  rallied 
him  on  it.  Hasy,  by  the  way.  had  been  very  sore 
at  heart  himself  that  Jack  alone  should  have  had 
to  bear  the  brunt  of  the  tool-house  escapade.  Ac 
cordingly,  -after  musing  over  the  matter  for  a  fort 
night,  he  had  gone  one  day  to  the  Doctor,  without 
mentioning  the  matter  to  any  one,  and  made  a  clean 
breast  of  his  own  participation  in  the  affair,  with 
the  expectation  and  almost  with  the  hope  of  being 
made  to  suffer  for  it.  But,  quite  to  his  astonish 
ment,  Dr.  Meredith,  after  hearing  his  story  and 
thanking  him  for  having  had  the  courage  to  own 
up,  which  was  unquestionably  the  manly  thing  to 
do  under  the  circumstances,  declined  to  take  advan 
tage  of  the  confession  further  than  to  talk  to  him 
kindly  for  half  an  hour  on  the  desirability  of  a 
little  more  steadiness  and  more  interest  in  study 
on  his  part. 

"  If  only  you  felt  half  the  concern  regarding  a 
poor   recitation  that   you  do  about  muffing  a  fly, 


310  JACK  HALL. 

you  would  be  at  the  head  of  your  class,  Haseltine," 
the  Doctor  had  said  genially,  —  a  proposition  which 
to  his  listener  had  seemed  to  border  almost  on  the 
ludicrous.  As  if,  forsooth,  comparison  could  be 
made  as  to  the  relative  importance  of  the  ability  to 
hold  on  to  a  difficult  sky-scraper  and  any  excellence 
in  the  class-room  under  the  sun  ! 

Hasy's  opinion  on  this  point  was  so  unqualified 
that  a  certain  disposition  to  take  his  lessons  more 
into  account,  which  Jack  was  beginning  to  show, 
struck  the  young  base-ball  enthusiast  as  stronger 
evidence  than  any  other  adduced  of  his  friend's  un 
natural  condition.  Not  that  he  for  a  moment  went 
over  to  Bill  French's  faction,  —  indeed,  his  con 
tempt  for  that  worthy's  behavior  had  been  quite  in 
proportion  to  Jack's,  —  but  as  he  found  it  impos 
sible  to  understand  how  his  crony  could  derive  sat 
isfaction  from  this  new  habit  of  trying  to  learn  his 
lessons  beforehand  instead  of  letting  them  be  ham 
mered  into  him  in  the  schoolroom,  he  was  naturally 
puzzled  and  felt  almost  provoked.  Indeed,  his  dis 
approval  of  his  friend's  behavior  was  so  sweep 
ing  that  he  failed  to  perceive  that  Jack  in  a  quiet 
way  was  getting  into  very  good  form  on  the  river 


UP-HILL.  311 

by  force  of  daily  practice  under  the  tutorship  of 
Carlisle.  Because  Jack  did  not  spurt,  and  ap 
peared  indisposed  to  tackle  any  and  everybody,  the 
impression  was  current  that  even  in  rowing,  as  in 
everything  else,  he  was  down  on  his  marrow- bones. 

So  far  as  his  own  feelings  went,  it  cannot  be  de 
nied  that  Jack  was  far  from  cheei-ful  during  the 
weeks  intervening  between  the  date  of  his  punish 
ment  and  the  end  of  his  fourth-class  year;  and 
when  vacation  was  at  hand,  he  looked  back  on  his 
efforts  at  improvement  with  a  glum  heart.  Secretly 
and  almost  sullenly  he  had  tried  hard  to  redeem 
himself ;  but  though  others  might  see  indications  of 
progress,  it  seemed  to  our  hero  as  though  he  was 
just  as  much  in  the  slough  as  ever.  He  had  always 
entertained  the  fancy  that  if  at  any  time  he  should 
take  it  into  his  head  to  do  well  at  his  books  and 
become  a  pattern  of  exemplary  conduct,  he  would 
find  it  a  perfectly  simple  matter  to  do  so.  Accord 
ingly  the  poor  fellow  was  now  learning  the  lesson 
which  so  many  have  to  learn,  that  continued  neglect 
and  frowardness  can  only  be  atoned  for  by  humilia 
tion  and  despondency. 

These  were  principally  experienced  in  regard  to 


312  JACK   HALL. 

his  lessons,  as  he  found  slight  difficulty  in  avoiding 
flagrant  breaches  of  the  rules  now  that  the  meet 
ings  of  the  Big  Four  were  discontinued.  The  illus 
trious  society  had  never  been  actually  disbanded ; 
but  the  transportation,  so  to  speak,  of  one  of  its 
choice  spirits,  and  the  lack  of  cordiality  existing 
between  at  least  two  of  those  remaining,  had 
caused  a  hiatus  in  its  proceedings  which  still  gaped. 
An  overture  on  the  part  of  the  Pater  Primus  to 
meet  and  talk  matters  over  was  rejected  by  Jack  and 
Haseltine  with  scorn  ;  and  though  Bill  would  have 
liked  to  get  together  by  himself,  as  the  saying  is. 
and  expel  his  mates  with  a  view  to  reorganization, 
he  probably  had  some  doub.ts  regarding  the  consti 
tutionality  of  such  a  proceeding,  or  else  was  afraid 
of  having  his  head  punched,  for  he  abstained  from 
action  in  the  matter. 

But  keeping  up  to  the  mark  in  his  Latin  and  his 
tory  and  algebra  was  a  very  different  affair,  as  Jack 
realized  as  soon  as  he  tried  to  buckle  down  to  work. 
He  scarcely  knew  what  to  do  in  order  to  study,  and 
it  seemed  at  first  as  though  he  used  to  make  a  better 
showing  when  he  trusted  to  luck,  the  prompting  of 
those  beside  him,  and.  the  various  other  straws  at 


UP-HILL.  313 

which  struggling  dunces  clutch  when  floundering  in 
recitation.  The  exhibitions  of  ignorance  which  he 
made,  now  that  he  was  bent  on  distinguishing  him 
self,  covered  him  with  confusion  in  the  presence  of 
his  instructors,  and  his  hopeless  attempts  before 
hand  to  compass  the  mysteries  of  irregular  verbs, 
subjunctive  clauses,  and  other  grewsome  obstacles 
in  the  pathway  of  learning,  reduced  him  to  despair. 
He  detested  study  more  than  ever,  and  felt  as  though 
he  should  never  be  anywhere  but  at  the  foot  of  his 
class,  struggle  as  he  would.  Pegging  away  seemed 
to  make  no  difference.  Could  any  one,  he  asked 
himself,  tell  from  their  respective  showings  in  the 
schoolroom  which  had  prepared  his  lesson  in  ad 
vance,  Haseltine  or  he  ? 

When  a  boy  has  acquired  a  reputation  for  idle 
ness,  it  naturally  takes  time  to  convince  those  in 
authority  over  him  that  he  is  trying  to  do  better. 
Some  masters  of  course  are  quicker  than  others  in 
noting  the  symptoms  of  change,  which,  as  has  been 
intimated  in  Jack's  case,  are  not  apt  to  be  obvious 
at  the  start ;  and  the  masters  at  Utopia  were  no 
exceptions  to  this  rule.  Although  several  of  them 
had  discrimination  enough  to  recognize  in  the  poor 


314  JACK  HALL. 

boy's  halting,  blushing  efforts  the  germ  of  awakened 
ambition,  there  were  one  or  two  who,  with  his  re 
cent  whipping  in  mind,  judged  these  signals  of  dis 
tress  as  indications  that  he  was  obstinately  contin 
uing  in  his  old  ways.  Consequently  his  mistakes 
were  treated  by  them  with  severity,  which  took  the 
form,  according  to  the  disposition  of  the  master,  of 
stern  reproof  or  of  sarcasm.  It  was  in  vain  that 
Jack's  eyes  filled  with  tears  on  such  occasions, 
for  his  misguided  tormentors  saw  in  them  merely 
the  simulated  grief  of  the  crocodile  or  unrighteous 
anger. 

The  cup  of  his  bitterness  was  filled  to  overflow 
ing  one  day  just  previous  to  the  end  of  the  term, 
when  Mr.  Opdyke,  his  Latin  master,  called  him  up 
to  recite  in  Virgil  in  the  presence  of  some  visitors. 
Mr.  Opdyke,  though  ambitious  that  his  class  should 
make  a  good  appearance,  being  also  a  very  conscien 
tious  man,  felt  obliged  to  conduct  the  recitation  just 
as  he  would  have  conducted  it  had  no  stranger  been 
present,  and  consequently  to  call  up  a  sprinkling  of 
poor  as  well  as  of  good  scholars,  in  order  to  give  a 
just  impression  as  to  the  general  average. 

Jack  trembled  in  every  limb  as  he  heard  the  un 
welcome  "words  : 


UP-HILL.  315 

"  Hall,  you  may  go  on." 

The  class  was  reading  the  third  book  of  the 
jEneid,  and  the  passage  which  had  fallen  to  Jack's 
lot  began  with  the  five  hundred  and  sixty-first 
line  : 

"  Haud  minus  ac  jussi  faciunt ;  primusque  rudeiitetn 
Contorsit  laevas  prorara  Palinurus  ad  undas ; 
Lagvam  cuncta  eohors  remis  veiitisque  petivit. 
Tollirtiur  in  coelum  curvato  gurgite,  et  idem 
Subducta  ad  Manes  imos  desedimus  unda. 
Ter  scopuli  clamorem  inter  cava  saxa  dedere  : 
Ter  spumam  elisam  et  rorantia  vidimus  astra." 

Jack  managed  to  scan  it  through  tolerably  well, 
and  then  began  to  translate. 

"  Not  less  than  commanded  they  did  "  — 

"  Mind  your  tense,  Hall." 

"  Er  —  do  "  — 

"  Go  on.  '  They  do  not  otherwise  than  com 
manded.'  * 

"  At  first "  — 

"  Well  ?     What  does  '  primus  '  agree  with  ?  " 

"  Palinurus,"  says  Jack  at  length. 

"  Correct.  '  And  Palinurus  was  the  first  to  turn,* 
or,  literally,  '  Palinurus  first  turned.'  What  is 
'contorsit'  from,  Hall?" 


316  JACK  HALL. 

"  Contorgo,"  essays  Jack  valiantly. 

"  Nothing  of  the  sort.  —  Anybody  ?  " 

"  *  Contorqueo,'  "  cries  a  small  lad,  who  has  shot 
up  his  hand. 

41  Correct,  Barrows.    '  Contorqueo.'   Go  on,  Hall." 

"And  Palinurus  was  the  first  to  turn  the  rud 
der"— 

"Where  do  you  find  anything  about  rudder?" 
inquires  Mr.  Opdyke,  with  the  irony  of  desperation. 

" « Rudentem.' " 

"Indeed!  Barrows,  tell  Hall  what  'rudentem' 
means." 

"  A  rope,"  suggests  the  youth  named,  too  elated 
evidently  by  his  first  success. 

"Timmins?" 

"Don't  know,  sir." 

"  Brown  ?  " 

"  Roaring." 

"  That 's  right.     What  part  of  speech  is  it  ?  " 

"Present  participle,  accusative  case,  from  'rudo.' " 

• 

"  Correct,"  says  Mr.  Opdyke.  "  '  Rudens '  means 
*a  rope,'  Barrows.  Some  authorities  ascribe  its 
derivation  to  'rudo'  on  account  of  the  rattling 
noise  made  by  a  rope.  Conjugate  '  rudo,'  Barrows." 


UP-HILL.  317 

"  *  Rudo,  rudire  '  "  - 

"Haseltine?" 

" '  Rudo,  rudare ' "  — 

"  Brown  ?  " 

" '  Rudo,  ru'dere,  rudivi,  ruditum.' ': 

"  Correct ;  '  rudire,  to  roar,  bellow,  bray,  rattle.' 
'Rudentem  proram,  the  hissing  prow.'  Quite  the 
other  end  of  the  ship  to  what  you  thought  it,  Hall. 
You  may  continue." 

There  is  an  audible  titter,  which  enrages  poor 
Jack,  who  remembers  that  he  had  spent  a  good  ten 
minutes  the  night  before  in  trying  to  arrive  at  the 
meaning  of  "  rudentera."  He  staggers  on  through 
the  next  line  by  dint  of  Mr.  Opdyke's  explanation 
that  "remis  ventisque"  means  "with  oars  and  sails," 
and  is  a  regular  phrase  for  "using  every  effort." 
He  gets  a  little  heart  by  successfully  conjugating 
"  tollimur  "  and  explaining  the  metaphorical  use  of 
"  Manes,"  his  knowledge  of  which  is  directly  trace 
able  to  study,  if  his  master  did  but  know.  He  gets 
a  cropper,  however,  in  endeavoring  to  struggle 
with  "desedimus,"  which  he  had  looked  for  in  vain 
under  the  heads  of  desedo,  desedeo,  and  disedeo. 
When  the  omniscient  Brown  tells  him  that  it  is 


318  JACK   HALL. 

Jthe  preterit  of  desido,  Jack  is  ready  to  kick  himself 
in  his  disgust. 

Only  two  more  lines  remain,  over  •which  Mr. 
Opdyke,  believing,  perhaps,  that  the  context  is  a 
little  difficult  to  master,  is  disposed  to  assist  him, 
as,  for  instance,  by  explaining  that  "cava  saxa" 
refers  to  "  the  rocks  at  the  bottom  of  the  sea,"  and 
that  "  ter  spumam  elisain,"  which  Jack  has  not  in 
correctly  rendered  "  the  foam  thrice  dashed  to 
pieces,"  is  significant  of  the  mariners'  seeing  the 
sky  through  a  curtain  of  foam. 

"  By  the  way,  Hall,  give  the  principal  parts  of 
elisam." 

Jack  flushes  proudly.  Again  hard  work  is  its 
own  reward. 

"  Elido,  elidere,  elisi,  elisum." 

Mr.  Opdyke  may  be  surprised,  but  he  does  not 
show  it.  He  is  the  sort  of  man  who  expects  his 
pupils  to  know  their  lessons,  and  displays  emotion 
only  when  they  fail.  Besides,  "  elisam,"  though  a 
revelation  to  Jack,  had  several  times  made  its  ap 
pearance  before  during  the  year.  He  merely  says 
shortly,  — 

"Well,  finish." 


UP-HILL.  321 

"  We  see,"  starts  off  Jack,  with  confidence,  but 
he  is  brought  up  short  with  another  "  Mind  your 
tense." 

"  We  saw  the  foam  thrice  dashed  to  pieces  and 
the  roaring  stars." 

"What?" 

"  The  foam  thrice  dashed  to  pieces  "  — 

"  No,  no ;  translate  '  rorantia  astra.' '' 

"Roaring  stars,"  answers  Jack,  a  trifle  less  as 
suredly  than  the  first  time.  He  had  felt  morally 
certain  when  he  was  preparing  the  lesson  that  this 
must  be  the  meaning  of  the  phrase  from  the  look 
of  it. 

"  Indeed !  "  comes  again  with  withering  scorn 
from  his  master's  lips.  "  Did  you  ever  see  a  star 
roar,  Hall?  I  have  heard  of  boys  roaring,  but 
never  of  stars." 

A  shout  of  amusement  from  the  class,  which  Mr. 
Opdyke  is  not  very  prompt  to  suppress,  greets  this 
somewhat  significant  sally.  When  it  has  subsided, 
poor  Jack,  who  is  scarlet  with  confusion,  having 
been  told,  "  That  will  do,"  after  taking  his  seat 
hears  Brown  once  more  correct  his  error  by  explain 
ing  that  "  rorantia  "  is  the  neuter  accusative  plural 


322  JACK   HALL. 

present  participle  of  "  roro,"  from  "  ros,  dew,"  and 
that  "rorantia  astra"  means  "dripping  stars"; 
as,  to  quote  the  after-remark  of  Mr.  Opdyke  for 
Jack's  especial  benefit,  "  any  boy  might  have  found 
out  by  looking  in  the  lexicon." 

Jack's  heart,  as  he  sat  down,  was  sore  within 
him.  The  visitors,  smiling  in  spite  of  themselves, 
had  evidently  heard  enough,  for  they  now  rose 
and  began  to  thank  profusely  Mr.  Opdyke,  whose 
impassive  calm  boded  no  good,  as  the  class  well 
knew,  to  those  who  had  been  found  wanting.  In 
the  midst  of  the  leave-taking  the  bell  rang,  which 
was  the  signal  for  the  close  of  the  recitation,  and  a 
moment  later  the  master  turned  and  said,  "Next 
time  we  will  stop  at  line  six  hundred  and  eleven. 
I  wish  to  speak  to  Hall  a  moment." 

When  every  one  else  was  gone  Jack  approached 
the  desk  with  compressed  lips  and  with  every  dis 
position  to  break  down  and  sob.  He  had  studied 
his  Virgil  hard,  as  he  thought,  and  though  the 
passage  which  he  had  been  called  upon  to  translate 
was  the  last  in  the  lesson,  he  was  not  conscious 
of  having  shirked  it.  He  had  done  his  best,  and 
what  a  pitiful  showing  his  best  was!  However, 


UP-HILL.  323 

although  his  doll  seemed  very  full  of  sawdust,  he 
was  not  going  to  give  old  Opdyke  the  satisfaction 
of  perceiving  his  complete  unhappiness. 

Accordingly  the  Latin  master,  who  believed  him 
self  an  adept  in  reading  youthful  character,  con 
ceived  the  sullen  air  of  determination  manifested 
by  the  culprit  before  him  as  consistent  with  a 
purpose  to  remain  a  dunce,  and,  acting  on  this 
presumpti.on,  regarded  the  offender  sternly,  and 
said: 

"  My  patience  is  exhausted,  Hall.  I  have  put  up 
with  your  negligence  until  I  can  do  so  no  longer 
with  any  respect  for  myself  or  regard  for  your 
good.  I  shall  report  your  case  to  Dr.  Meredith 
forthwith.  There  is  nothing  you  can  say  which 
will  alter  my  determination,"  he  added  sharply,  as 
Jack  seemed  about  to  speak. 

"  Very  well,  sir,"  Jack  answered. 

Mr.  Opdyke  gathered  up  his  books  and  was  gone 
without  bestowing  a  look  on  his  unhappy  victim, 
who,  led  by  that  which  he  had  just  heard  to  fore 
see  his  dismissal  from  school,  went  sadly  to  his 
room,  bewailing  his  unlucky  stars — "rorantia  as- 
tra."  The  Doctor  would  surely  take  in  very  bad 


324  JACK   HALL. 

part  this  report  of  neglected  studies  coming  so  soon 
after  his  former  disgrace. 

In  his  unhappy  plight  he  decided  to  go  to  Car 
lisle,  to  whom  he  told  the  story  of  his  misfortunes 
and  from  whom  he  obtained  the  sympathy  he  was 
in  need  of.  For  Carlisle  had  not  failed  to  observe 
Jack's  efforts  to  overcome  the  difficulties  of  the 
JEneid  in  spite  of  his  young  crony's  unwillingness 
to  come  to  him  for  help,  and  was  able  with  sin 
cerity  to  support  the  dejected  lad's  protestation 
that  he  had  really  studied  hard. 

"  Studied !  You  have  studied  like  a  Trojan, 
Jack.  It 's  an  outrage  in  Opdyke  to  accuse  you  of 
negligence.  It  serves  you  right,  though,  for  not 
letting  me  tutor  you  a  bit.  '  Rudentem,  the  rud 
der,'  —  and  what  was  the  other  ?  Oh,  yes,  — 
'roaring  stars.'  Excuse  my  laughing,  old  fellow, 
you  outdid  yourself." 

"  I  don't  care  so  much  what  Opdyke  thinks," 
said  Jack  ruefully,  "but  I  can't  bear  to  have  the 
Doctor  suppose  I  'm  the  same  old  quarter  of  a  dol 
lar.  It's  no  use  my  trying  to  learn  anything, 
though.  The  harder  I  work  the  worse  exhibition 
I  make.  When  you  're  gone  next  year,  I  don't 
know  what  '11  become  of  me." 


UP-HILL.  325 

"  But  I  shan't  be  gone.  I  'm  going  to  remain 
another  year." 

"  Really  ?  "  exclaimed  Jack  jubilantly.  "  What 
has  induced  you  to  change  your  mind  ?  When  did 
you  decide  ?  " 

"  Only  this  morning.  I  Ve  been  talking  it  over 
with  Dr.  Bolles,  and  he  thinks  it  would  be  more 
sensible  of  me  not  to  go  to  college  for  another  year. 
There  's  HO  hurry,  for  I  'm  only  seventeen,  and 
though  I  'm  feeling  first-rate  he  believes  that  by 
waiting  I  should  build  myself  up  completely.  So 
I  'm  to  pass  my  entrance  examinations  this  June 
and  come  back  to  the  school  as  assistant  in  Latin 
next  fall.  It 's  all  arranged ;  and  you  '11  have  to 
mind  your  P's  and  Q's,  I  can  tell  you,  when  you  're 
reciting  to  me,  youngster." 

These  last  weeks  of  the  school  year  were  always 
busy  ones  in  every  sense.  Beside  being  examina 
tion  time,  at  the  close  of  which  was  the  annual  ex 
hibition  day  when  the  parents  and  friends  of  the 
boys  came  often  from  a  great  distance  to  see  their 
sons  declaim  or  recite  in  public,  they  were  busy 
also  in  an  athletic  way.  On  the  morning  preced 
ing  that  on  which  the  prize  declamation  was  held 


326  JACK  HALL. 

it  had  become  an  established  custom  for  the  four 
eight-oared  crews  to  compete  together  and  subse 
quently  for  the  best  single  scullers  at  Utopia  to  de 
monstrate  by  a  two-mile  contest  which  could  pull 
the  fastest.  During  the  same  week  also  the  school 
nine  endeavored  to  pit  itself  against  the  most  for 
midable  base-ball  team  that  could  be  lured  to 
Utopia. 

This  year,  as  you  already  know,  Jack  took  no  ac 
tive  part  in  either  of  the  aquatic  tussles.  He  saw, 
as  was  expected,  the  Mohicans  again  crowned  cocks 
of  the  hike,  chiefly  owing  to  the  dashing  stroke  set 
them  by  Tom  Bonsall,  and  heard  with  a  feeling 
akin  to  envy  the  statement  go  the  rounds  that  Tom 
was  to  have  a  walk-over  in  the  single-scull  contest. 
There  were  no  entries  against  him,  and  by  paddling 
over  the  course  he  would  have  the  right  to  claim 
the  silver  cup  annually  put  up  as  a  prize  by  a  gen 
erous  patron  of  the  school.  Somehow  or  other 
there  was  just  at  this  time  a  dearth  of  fast  scullers 
among  the  boys  of  the  first  two  years,  and  here 
was  a  third-classer  sweeping  all  before  him  without 
opposition  even. 

The  single-scull  race  had  been  fixed  for  as  late 


UP-HILL.  327 

as  possible  in  the  afternoon,  in  order  to  give  any 
one  who  had  taken  part  in  the  four-oared  contest 
time  to  get  rested.  But,  naturally,  as  few  foresaw 
any  amusement  in  watching  Tom  go  over  the  course 
alone,  interest  in  the  event  was  very  slight  until 
the  rumor  got  abroad  shortly  after  twelve  o'clock 
that  Carlisle  was  going  to  have  a  try  for  the  cup. 
It  had  already  been  announced  early  in  the  day  not 
only  that  he  had  come  out  at  the  head  of  the  school, 
but  that  his  standing  in  the  way  of  scholarship  was 
proportionately  higher  than  that  of  any  previous 
Utopian.  No  one  was  surprised  at  this ;  but  the 
news  of  his  entry  for  the  single  sculls  caused  a  ver 
itable  sensation,  which  found  voice  in  a  general 
prediction  that  he  would  be  beaten.  As  for  Jack, 
when  he  heard  it,  he  waved  his  cap  above  his  head 
and  shouted  himself  hoarse.  He  had  such  faith  in 
his  friend's  ability  to  do  anything  that  he  tried  to 
do,  that,  as  astounding  as  the  announcement  was, 
even  to  him,  Jack  would  not  permit  himself  to 
doubt  the  result.  The  odds  were  ostensibly  against 
Louis,  it  is  true,  for  Tom  was  the  pink  of  condition 
and  was  open  to  slight  criticism  in  the  way  of 
style,  as  Jack  was  very  well  aware,  and  I  don't 


328  JACK  HALL. 

think  our  hero  was  quite  able  yet  to  appreciate 
to  the  full  the  value  in  such  an  affair  of  steady, 
systematic  training  void  of  splurge  or  notoriety, 
although  familiar  with  the  fact  that  his  friend  was 
in  excellent  practice.  And  yet,  notwithstanding, 
Jack  had  a  hope  which  from  the  first  amounted 
almost  to  conviction  that  Carlisle  would  win. 

It  was  a  great  race  —  that  battle  royal  between 
Tom  Bonsall  and  Louis  Carlisle,  and  properly  is 
recorded  among  the  famous  rowing  matches  of 
Utopia  School.  If  this  book  was  not  devoted 
chiefly  to  the  experiences  of  another  hero,  I  should 
like  nothing  better  than  to  describe  in  detail  how 
the  two  oarsmen,  who  were  well  matched  in  point 
of  size,  pulled  an  even  race  to  within  a  quarter  of  a 
mile  of  the  finish  at  a  pace  but  little  below  that  of 
the  best  school  record  ;  how  the  younger  boy  in  his 
desire  to  overcome  his  antagonist  increased  his 
speed  and  gained  a  lead  of  half  a  boat's  length,  to 
the  delight  of  his  backers,  only  to  get  blown  and 
yield  his  advantage,  inch  by  inch,  until  the  rival 
shells  were  once  more  abreast ;  and  how  Tom  in 
his  distress  then  lost  his  head  and  begun  to  splash, 
giving  an  opportunity  for  his  senior's  steady,  thor- 


UP-HILL.  329 

oughly  digested  stroke  to  bring  him  to  the  fore  and 
win  the  race  with  comparative  ease  amid  the  vocif 
erous  cheers  of  a  rapturous  crowd,  among  whom 
there  was  no  one  more  wild  with  transport  than 
our  friend  Jack.  It  was  a  fit  ending  to  the  victor's 
career  at  Utopia,  —  a  career  which  had  won  him  no 
enemies,  and  gained  for  him  the  respect  and  affec 
tion  of  masters  and  pupils  alike,  most  of  whom, 
however,  as  they  admired  him  walking  up  to  the 
boat-house,  apparently  still  fresh  and  a  picture  of 
ruddy  health,  had  but  little  appreciation  of  how 
largely  he  owed  his  great  increase  in  vigor  to  knowl 
edge  of  his  own  needs  and  to  self-restraint  —  quali 
ties  whose  value  in  the  foundation  of  character  it 
would  be  difficult  to  overestimate. 

But  for  lack  of  space  I  might  doubtless  narrate 
also  with  abundant  circumlocution,  and  not  fear  to 
tire  those  of  you  most  fond  of  base-ball,  how  the 
Stars  won  a  victory  by  a  single  run  —  a  ten  in 
nings  game  —  from  the  school  nine  in  spite  of  the 
stimulating  presence  of  applauding  friends  —  some 
of  them  of  the  gentler  sex  —  decked  with  the  Uto 
pia  color  ;  and  despite,  too,  the  fact  that  the  "  Kid  " 
was  in  magnificent  form,  and  our  friend  Hasy  had 


330  JACK  HALL. 

been  within  a  foi'tnight,  on  account  of  his  brilliancy 
at  the  bat  and  in  the  field,  made  permanently  a 
member  of  the  team  in  the  position  of  third-base 
man,  which  you  will  remember  was  the  same  proud 
position  he  filled  when  with  the  formidable  Rising 
Suns.  How  the  defeat  came  about  it  was  not  easy 
to  explain,  as  every  one  had  felt  sure  of  the  game, 
which  suggests  that  we  are  very  apt  in  this  world 
to  come  to  grief  when  we  despise  our  adversaries. 
It  was  a  good  thing  for  the  "  Kid,"  however,  and 
for  Haseltine  too,  to  have  the  conceit  knocked  out 
of  them,  as  I  have  no  doubt  the  Doctor  thought 
also,  seeing  that  the  nine  had  carried  all  before 
it  hitherto  during  the  term.  It  does  not  do  for 
boys,  or  for  men  either,  who  wish  to  hold  their  own 
and  to  go  on  improving,  to  get  too  cocky. 

Notwithstanding  these  diversions,  Jack  could  not 
help  feeling  very  nervous  in  regard  to  the  outcome 
of  Mr.  Opdyke's  report  to  the  Doctor,  of  which  he 
had  heard  nothing,  although  a  fortnight  had  now 
elapsed  since  his  pitiful  recitation  in  Virgil.  Since 
then  he  had  been  in  to  the  yearly  examinations  in 
the  various  subjects  allotted  to  boys  of  his  year, 
but  without  feeling  much  encouraged  to  believe 


UP-HILL.  331 

that  he  had  made  a  good  showing.  It  was  a  new 
experience  to  him  to  be  worrying  as  to  whether  or 
not  he  had  answered  this  or  that  question  correctly, 
and  yet  he  was  so  wrapped  up  in  trying  not  to  be 
at  the  foot  of  the  class  that  he  could  think  of  noth 
ing  else.  It  seemed  to  him  as  though  he  could  no 
longer  bear  the  thought  of  being  regarded  as  an 
idle,  lazy  fellow. 

Before  breakfast,  on  the  morning  of  the  school 
exhibition,  he  received  word  that  he  was  to  go  to 
Dr.  Meredith's  study,  a  summons  which  made  him 
feel  sick  at  heart,  for  he  believed  that  he  knew 
what  was  in  store  for  him.  Greatly  to  his  surprise 
he  was  greeted  by  the  head  master  with  a  pleasant 
smile,  and  could  scarcely  believe  his  ears  as  he  lis 
tened  to  these  words  :  — 

"  Hall,  your  work  during  the  past  term  has  been 
a  great  improvement  on  what  you  have  done  be 
fore.  There  is  great  room  for  improvement  yet, 
my  dear  boy,  but  if  you  continue  as  you  have  be 
gun  there  will  soon  be  no  cause  to  complain  of 
you." 

There  can  be  little  doubt  that  Jack  went  home 
for  vacation  with  a  light  heart,  especially  when  I 


332  JACK  HALL. 

add  that  he  had  the  satisfaction  of  being  assured  by 
Carlisle,  just  before  they  parted  for  the  summer, 
that  if  he  would  only  stick  to  his  present  stroke 
and  not  try  to  get  on  too  fast,  he  would  certainly 
in  time  give  that  rising  young  oarsman,  Bonsall,  all 
he  could  do  to  keep  his  laurels. 

"  I  've  taught  Bonsall  a  lesson,  though,  that 
he  '11  be  quick  to  profit  by,  if  he  's  the  clever  fel 
low  I  judge  him  to  be,"  said  Carlisle.  "  You  've  no 
child's  play  cut  out  for  you,  youngster;  it'll  be 
nip  and  tuck  between  you,  and  all  I  can  say  is,  let 
the  best  man  win  when  the  time  comes.  I  hope  I 
shall  be  on  hand  to  see  the  struggle." 


CHAPTER  XL 

NIP   AND  TUCK. 

WITH  the  beginning  of  the  third-class  year  Jack 
entered  upon  the  second  half  of  his  life  at  Utopia. 
One  day  early  in  the  new  term  he  dropped  into 
the  more  spacious  study  to  which  Carlisle,  in  his 
capacity  of  assistant  in  Latin,  had  been  promoted, 
and  falling  into  a  chair  exclaimed,  "  I  say,  Louis, 
I  would  like  something  to  read." 

"  To  read,  my  dear  fellow  ?  With  all  my  heart. 
What  shall  it  be?" 

"  That 's  what  I  've  come  to  you  to  tell  me. 
I  've  never  read  anything  and  I  want  to  begin." 

As  you  have  doubtless  noticed,  Carlisle  had 
hitherto  in  his  intercourse  with  Jack  kept  in  the 
background  his  most  cherished  tastes,  and  rarely, 
if  ever,  made  allusion  to  books  or  other  kindred  in- 
tei'ests,  feeling  sure  that  he  would  not  find  a  sym 
pathetic  listener.  But  from  this  time  forward  the 
scope  of  their  friendship  was  greatly  widened.  It 


334  JACK  HALL. 

was  a  simple  matter  for  the  older  boy  to  gratify 
the  desire  of  his  interrogator,  and  before  many 
weeks  had  passed  by  Jack  had  become  an  eager 
devourer  of  literature,  held  in  check  from  proceed 
ing  too  rapidly,  however,  by  the  injunction  to  digest 
thoroughly  what  he  read. 

"  I  only  wish  I  had  had  somebody  to  impress  the 
importance  of  that  upon  me  when  I  started,"  Car 
lisle  remarked  to  him  early  in  their  new  intercourse. 
"  I  read  everything  I  could  lay  my  hands  on  as  fast 
as  I  could  see  the  words.  Consequently  I  forgot 
half  what  I  read." 

"  Were  all  these  books  given  to  you  ?  "  asked 
Jack,  indicating  the  modest  little  library  of  which 
his  friend  was  the  happy  possessor. 

"  No,  indeed.  I  purchased  most  of  them  with 
what  I  have  saved  from  my  spending  money.  Long 
before  I  was  your  age  I  used  to  save  up  every  cent 
I  got  to  spend  in  books.  I  shall  never  forget  my 
delight  when  I  was  able  to  buy  the  copy  of  '  The 
Lady  of  the  Lake,'  above  your  head  there." 

Jack  had  never  read  "  The  Lady  of  the  Lake." 
Indeed,  he  had  never  read  any  poetry  in  his  life,  and 
what  is  more,  had  in  his  ignorance  cherished  the 


NIP   AND  TUCK.  335 

belief  that  poetry  was  silly  stuff,  fit  only  for  girls 
and  milksops,  and  quite  beneath  the  notice  of  a 
masculine  individual  like  himself.  This  belief  he 
was  obliged  to  confess  ill-founded  after  finishing 
the  thrilling  encounter  between  Snowdon's  knight 
and  the  formidable  Roderick  Dhu.  In  fact,  so 
great  was  his  delight  with  both  this  poem  and 
"  Marmion,"  which  Carlisle  introduced  him  to  im 
mediately  after,  that  he  saw  fit  to  learn  passages 
from  each  of  them  by  heart,  much  to  tho  bewil 
derment  and  ill-concealed  disdain  of  Haseltine,  in 
whose  presence  he  was  disposed  to  rehearse  them. 

" '  Come  one,  come  all,  this  rock  shall  fly 
From  its  firm  base  as  soon  aa  I,' " 

he  began  one  morning  while  they  were  dressing, 
assuming  a  martial  attitude  before  the  bath-room 
door,  and  armed  with  a  base-ball  bat. 

"  Oh,  come  off,"  said  Haseltine  contemptuously. 
"  Quit  that  stuff !  " 

"  It  is  n't  stuff","  expostulated  Jack.  "  You  ought 
to  read  it ;  it 's  immense." 

"What  is?" 

'"The  Lady  of  the  Lake,'  by  Scott.  There's 
4  Marmion,'  too." 


336  JACK   HALL. 

"  '  Charge,  Chester,  charge !  on,  Stanley,  on  ! 
Were  the  last  words  of  Marmion,'  " 

he  added,  waving  the  bat. 

"  Anything  about  base-ball  in  it  ?  " 
"  Of  course  not,  Hasy.     It 's  poetry." 
"  I  don't  see  what  difference  that  makes.     Any 
way,  I  guess  prose  is  good  enough  for  me." 

"  Will  you  read  l  The  Lady  of  the  Lake '  if  I 
lend  it  to  you  ? "  asked  Jack.  He  was  genuinely 
eager  to  share  the  pleasure  of  his  new  discovery. 

Haseltine  did  not  commit  himself  on  the  point, 
but  Jack  left  the  volume  in  iiis  crony's  room,  and 
experienced  the  satisfaction  a  few  days  later  of  hear 
ing  him  ask,  carelessly,  — 

"  What  did  you  say  the  name  of  the  other  book 
was?" 

"  «  Marmion.' " 

"  I  guess  I  '11  look  it  over  now  that  my  hand  's  in." 
This  was  scarcely  enthusiasm,  to  judge  by  the 
mere  words;  but  Jack  knew  well  that  Haseltine 
must  have  been  greatly  interested  in  order  to  have 
said  even  so  much,  an  estimate  which  was  confirmed 
a  fortnight  later,  when  the  base-ball  devotee  ac 
cepted  an  invitation  to  read  two  hours  in  every 


NIP  AND   TUCK.  337 

week  with  him  and  Carlisle.  This  arrangement, 
which  lasted  through  the  year,  soon  became  a  source 
of  extreme  delight  to  both  the  boys,  who  listened 
with  open  ears  to  the  various  pieces  of  verse  which 
their  mentor  selected  for  their  edification.  Carlisle 
took  pains  to  explain  that  he  was  himself  a  mere 
student  and  beginner,  and  to  encourage  diversity  of 
opinion,  and  consequent  discussion,  in  regard  to  the 
merits  of  what  was  read.  It  must  have  been  inter 
esting  to  him  to  note  the  gradual  change  which  took 
place  in  the  tastes  of  his  auditors,  though  be  it  said 
that  Haseltine,  to  the  lust,  refused  to  admit  any. 
passage  in  the  realm  of  verse  to  be  superior  to  that 
which  described  the  once  sneered-at  duel  between 
the  Scottish  king  and  the  Highland  rebel.  Both 
their  hearts,  and  more  particularly  Jack's,  were 
opened,  however,  to  the  beauties  of  more  thought 
ful  poetry,  which,  and  also  the  feelings  and  aspira 
tions  begotten  by  it,  became  new  and  working  in 
fluences  in  their  lives. 

I  am  quite  aware  that  this  side  of  Jack's  career 
cannot  be  made  to  appear  so  attractive  to  you  boys 
by  means  of  description  as  some  of  the  more  pictur 
esque  matters  in  which  he  was  engaged ;  but  if  he 


338  JACK   HALL. 

were  called  upon  to-day  to  state  what  period  in  his 
school  life  he  looks  back  upon  with  the  greatest  sat 
isfaction  since  going  out  into  the  busy  world,  I  know 
that  he  would  specify  that  during  which  he  acquired 
his  love  of  reading  and  interest  in  refined  thought. 
You  remember  that,  though,  when  he  went  home 
encouraged  by  Dr.  Meredith's  kind  words  at  the  end 
of  his  fourth-class  year,  he  was  certainly  entitled  to 
great  credit  for  having  made  so  determined  a  fight 
against  his  inveterate  habit  of  idleness,  he  was  at  the 
time  little  more  than  a  rough,  harum-scarum  sort  of 
&  boy,  —  a  plucky  one,  I  admit,  with  plenty  of  good 
stun0  in  him,  —  but  nevertheless  comparatively 
thoughtless,  and  confined  in  his  interests  to  the 
ball  field  and  boat-house.  Before  another  year  had 
passed,  while  he  was  once  more  in  excellent  spirits, 
there  was  something  about  his  expression  which 
caused  the  other  boys  to  speak  of  him  as  older-look 
ing.  But  Carlisle  and  the  ever-observant  head  of 
the  school  recognized  with  pleasure  that  his  graver 
countenance  and  less  flighty  manner  were  signifi 
cant  of  more  than  seniority. 

Our   hero's   prowess   in   the   way   of   sport  was 
chiefly  marked  this  year  by  his  selection  as  one  of 


NIP  AND  TUCK.  339 

the  Atalantas,  in  whose  boat  he  was  given  the  posi 
tion  of  number  four,  and  had  the  satisfaction  of  do 
ing  his  best  to  make  the  crew  formidable  opponents 
of  the  still  victorious  Mohicans.  The  Atalantas  had 
fallen  to  the  rank  of  third  on  the  lake  in  the  last 
race  in  which  the  four  eight-oared  crews  had  met ; 
but  this  infusion  of  new  blood  —  there  were  two 
other  additions  beside  Jack  —  enabled  them  to  come 
in  second  in  the  spring  contest,  and  not  a  very  bad 
second  either.  So  fresh  were  they  in  fact  at  the 
finish,  J;hat  Tom  Bonsall  had  to  call  on  his  crew  for 
an  extra  spurt  when  he  supposed  the  race  already 
won. 

Jack  managed  also,  before  another  twelvemonth 
had  passed,  to  throw  Carpenter  flat  on  his  back 
and  pin  his  shoulders  to  the  ground  in'  the  middle 
weight  spring  wrestling,  in  retaliation  for  that  ath 
lete's  victory  over  him  when  they  were  both  classed 
as  feather  weights.  He  wisely  recognized  his  lim 
itations  on  the  running  track,  however,  which  a  gain 
of  ten  pounds  in  weight  had  intensified,  by  not  try 
ing  to  compete  with  Jessup,  who  was  still  easily  first 
as  a  sprinter.  If  Hopedale,  who,  you  will  recall, 
had  beaten  him  twice  in  previous  years,  had  been 


340  JACK  HALL. 

still  at  Utopia,  Jack  might  have  found  it  difficult  to 
resist  the  temptation  of  making  another  struggle 
for  supremacy  ;  but  his  old  antagonist  was  no  longer 
at  the  school.  It  was  a  wise  decision  on  his  part, 
for  the  champion  succeeded  in  lowering  Carlisle's 
famous  record  amid  tumultuous  applause. 

Jack's  general  reputation  at  this  time  was  as  a 
good  all  -  round  man ;  a  reputation  which  he  was 
urged  to  maintain  by  the  intelligent  superintendent 
of  the  gymnasium,  Dr.  Bolles,  between  whom  and 
Jack  there  was  mutual  cordiality  of  feeling.  .  Dr. 
Bolles,  as  you  will  remember,  had  been  pleased 
by  Jack's  compact  physique  from  the  first  day  he 
laid  eyes  on  him,  and  had  ever  since  lost  no  occa 
sion  to  drop  valuable  hints  as  to  how  it  might  be 
improved  and  taken  care  of.  Jack  had  long  ago 
learned  from  this  source  the  weak  points  in  his 
make-up,  and  was  well  versed  in  his  instructor's 
theory,  that  it  was  foolish  for  boys  to  cultivate 
chiefly  those  parts  of  the  body  which  were  especially 
well  developed.  In  the  opinion  of  Dr.  Bolles,  ath 
letics  were  intended  as  a  means  for  improving  the 
health  and  structure  of  the  young,  not  as  an  end  to 
the  pursuit  of  which  they  should  devote  their  entire 


NIP   AND   TUCK.  341 

energies ;  and  he  was  emphatic  in  his  cautions  to 
Jack  not  to  be  led  astray  in  this  respect. 

"  Remember,"  he  would  say,  "that  however  im 
portant  it  may  seem  to  you  to  win  this  or  the  other 
match,  the  real  object  of  exercise  is  to  fit  you  for  the 
serious  work  that  you  will  be  called  upon  to  do  as  a 
man.  The  moment  you  sacrifice  everything  to 
sport,  you  are  to  all  intents  and  purposes  a  profes 
sional,  which  is  the  last  thing  you  were  sent  to 
school  to  become." 

Although  this  view  of  athletics  was  novel  to  Jack, 
he  was  forced  to  admit  to  himself  that  it  was  in 
keeping  with  the  other  ideas  regarding  human  duty 
and  obligation  which  had  suddenly  been  revealed  to 
him  as  a  consequence  of  his  more  sober  life  and  the 
masterpieces  of  intelligent  thought  with  which  his 
mind  was  being  brought  in  daily  contact.  He  was 
able  now  to  understand  Carlisle's  previous  determina 
tion  not  to  dissipate  his  energies  in  too  many  direc 
tions,  and  to  pursue  his  training  at  the  oar  with  the 
aim  first  of  all  of  keeping  in  good  condition  so  as  to 
be  able  to  fulfill  his  school  work  satisfactorily.  Study 
did  not  come  easy  yet  to  Jack.  Far  from  it,  in  fact. 
It  takes  a  long  time  to  recover  lost  ground  and  cover 


342  JACK  HALL. 

new  at  the  same  time.  Often  indeed  he  felt  pretty 
well  discouraged  and  inclined  to  believe  that  he 
should  never  do  anything  at  his  books.  Though  by 
no  means  dull,  he  possessed  little  more  than  average 
brightness,  which  made  the  contrast  which  he  could 
not  help  forming  at  times  between  himself  and  his 
mentor  stand  out  with  painful  distinctness.  Carlisle 
was  so  quick-minded,  and  acquired  everything  that 
he  undertook  to  learu  so  easily,  that  Jack  could  not 
help  expressing  openly  his  despair  of  ever  coming 
within  understanding  distance  even  of  his  friend. 

"  Nonsense !  "  Carlisle  would  reply  on  such  occa 
sions;  "you  were  a  little  late  in  beginning,  that's 
all.  Persevere,  youngster,  and  you  '11  come  out  all 
right  in  the  end." 

There  was  good  advice  in  this,  for  though  Jack 
would  never  be  likely  through  lack  of  natural  abili 
ties  and  taste  to  equal  his  senior  in  intellectual  acu 
men,  there  was  no  reason  why  he  should  not  become 
an  excellent  scholar  and  graduate  with  distinction 
by  means  of  that  very  valuable  quality  —  which  is 
too  apt  to  be  depreciated  as  a  gift  —  known  as  per 
severance.  Some  boys  will  always  be  by  disposition 
quicker  witted  and  more  brilliant  than  their  fellows, 


NIP  AND   TUCK.  343 

but  it  does  not  follow  by  any  means  that  the  prizes 
of  after-life  fall  to  these  "  Admirable  Crichtons." 
Stubborn,  bull-dog,  up-hill  climbing  and  untiring 
determination  to  succeed  will  many  a  time  win 
place  and  honor  when  easy-going  talent  goes  to  the 
wall.  Don't  let  any  one  persuade  you,  boys,  that 
you  can  equal  all  at  once  some  companion  who  learns 
his  lessons  twice  as  easily  as  you  do.  God  gives  un 
equal  gifts  to  his  children,  and  if  the  one  you  have 
in  mind  is  as  resolute  as  you,  no  amount  of  industry 
will  enable  you  to  catch  him.  But,  though  your 
abilities  may  appear  commonplace  to  begin  with, 
you  have  no  idea  how  many  of  those  exasperatingly 
clever  fellows  you  will  leave  safely  in  the  rear  be 
fore  the  race  of  life  is  over,  if  only  you  make  the 
most  of  yourself  by  persevering  unflaggingly  from 
start  to  finish. 

One  day  not  long  before  the  summer  vacation 
Carlisle  came  into  his  study,  where  Jack  who  had 
the  run  of  it  happened  to  be  pegging  away  at  some 
lesson,  and  dropping  into  the  window-seat  began  to 
look  over  the  just  issued  copy  of  "  The  Utopian," 
the  school  paper,  of  which  he  had  been  an  editor 
until  he  graduated,  and  to  which  he  was  still  an 
occasional  contributor. 


344  JACK   HALL. 

"  The  Utopian"  was  conducted  by  a  board  of  six 
taken  from  the  three  upper  classes,  who  solicited 
articles  and  poems  from  the  entire  school,  and  was 
a  breezy  neat-looking  little  publication  containing, 
beside  local  items  of  interest  and  detailed  accounts 
of  the  triumphs  and  reverses  of  the  nine,  the  fif 
teen,  and  the  other  athletic  organizations,  numerous 
imaginative  pieces  in  prose  and  verse.  Carlisle  had 
for  several  years  been  one  of  its  strongest  support 
ers,  and  both  in  the  capacity  of  "  funny  man  "  and 
poet  had  done  much  to  keep  its  columns  readable. 
Consequently  he  was  familiar  with  the  pseudonym 
and  style  of  the  usual  contributors. 

After  reading  out  one  or  two  stray  bits  of  humor 
which  he  came  across  and  over  which  he  chuckled 
contentedly,  and  dubbing  as  "  dishwater  "  a  poem 
involving  a  love  affair  which  doubtless  he  judged 
appertained  rather  to  the  mind's  eye  than  to  the 
experience  of  the  narrator,  he  was  silent  a  moment. 
Then  he  said : 

"I  wonder  who  '  Juvenis '  is." 

"  Juvenis  ?  "  asked  Jack,  with  apparent  noncha 
lance,  glancing  at  him  furtively. 

"  Yes ;  there 's  a  fellow  signs  himself  '  Juvenis ' 


NIP  AND   TUCK. 


345 


to  some  lines  on  the  Ocean.  It  is  n't  a  very  original 
subject,  but  whoever  he  is,  he  has  seen  the  ocean 
any  way  and  knows  what  it  looks  like.  It  is  n't 
bad  at  all,"  he  added. 

If  the  ex-editor  had  chanced  to  regard  his  com 
panion's  face  at  the  moment  he  must  have  obtained 


an  instant  clue  as  to  the  identity  of  the  unknown 
rhymester.  Jack  was  tickled  to  death,  so  to  speak, 
for  this  was  the  first  information  he  had  received  of 
the  acceptance  of  his  poem  which  he  had  inclosed 
and  addressed  to  the  editors  of  the  Utopian  a  fort 
night  before  in  the  secrecy  of  his  own  room,  and 


346  JACK  HALL. 

with  very  little  hope  of  its  escape  from  the  waste- 
paper  basket.  To  have  in  addition  to  the  conscious 
ness  of  knowing  that  it  was  actually  in  print,  Car 
lisle  of  all  men  vouchsafe  a  word  of  praise  in  its  be 
half  seemed  to  him  like  piling  Pelion  on  Ossa.  At 
least  he  felt  as  much  up  in  the  world  as  he  could 
possibly  have  felt  if  standing  on  a  pinnacle  composed 
of  those  two  mountains. 

While  he  was  deliberating  whether  or  not  to  re 
veal  his  authorship,  Carlisle  renewed  the  conversa 
tion  by  asking  to  Jack's  infinite  amusement : 

"  Why  should  n't  you  try  your  hand  at  something 
of  the  sort,  youngster?  If  poetry  isn't  in  your 
line,  write  prose." 

"  What 's  the  use  ?  "  responded  our  hero,  with  a 
well  simulated  attempt  at  indifference. 

"  What's  the  use  of  anything  ?  In  the  first  place, 
composition  teaches  you  to  systematize  your  thoughts 
and  to  express  yourself  with  clearness.  I  believe,  too, 
in  cultivating  the  imagination.  Of  course  every 
fellow  who  writes  verse  is  n't  a  poet  and  is  apt  to 
be  a  fool  if  he  thinks  himself  one,  but  his  mind 
gets  pleasure  and  profit  out  of  the  exercise.  Take 
these  lines  I  just  spoke  to  you  about,"  continued 
Carlisle,  "  they  're  not  much  as  poetiy  of  course." 


NIP  AND  TUCK.  347 

"  Oh,  no,"  interjected  Jack,  a  little  dolefully,  off 
his  guard. 

"  But  the  author  must  have  derived  a  great  deal 
of  satisfaction  from  writing  them,  and  can  evidently 
do  much  better  work  with  practice.  If  you  ask 
'  what 's  the  use,'  I  can't  express  it  to  you  in  dollars 
and  cents,  but  I  'in  mighty  certain  that  everything 
of  that  sort  is  good  for  one,  and  helps  one  to  under 
stand  life  better." 

Jack  began  to  laugh  merrily.  "  That 's  the  best 
rise  I  've  seen  for  a  long  time,"  he  said. 

"  I  fail  to  see  the  rise." 

"  You  will,  though,  when  I  tell  you  that  I  am  the 
author  of  the  Lines  on  the  Ocean." 

"  You,  Jack !  Well,  that 's  a  good  one  on  me, 
I  admit.  You  might  have  let  me  into  the  secret,  I 
think,"  added  Carlisle  reproachfully. 

"  You  see  it  was  not  a  very  original  subject  "  — 

"•  None  of  that,  now.  You  may  thank  your  stars, 
youngster,  that  I  did  n't  pitch  into  your  verses.  I 
might  have  stabbed  you  to  the  heart  unwittingly." 

"  In  which  case  their  authorship  would  have  died 
with  me.  I  knew  you  'd  feel  obliged  to  tell  me  ex 
actly  what  you  thought  of  them  if  I  showed  them 
to  you,  so  I  kept  mum." 


348  JACK   HALL. 

"  Well,  you  've  heard  my  opinion  of  them,  and  I 
don't  know  that  I  have  anything  to  add  except  that 
for  a  first  attempt  they  're  highly  creditable,"  said 
Cai-lisle. 

Jack  was  excessively  proud  of  his  new  accom 
plishment,  and  lost  no  time  in  showing  the  verses 
to  Haseltine,  who,  after  reading  them  to  the  end, 
observed  laconically,  — 

"  They  're  not  up  to  '  The  Lady  of  the  Lake.'  " 

Beyond  this  general  criticism  Haseltine  did  not 
choose  to  commit  himself,  but  being  nowadays  less 
disposed  than  formerly  to  sniff  at  matters  uncon 
nected  with  base-ball,  he  also  abstained  from  any 
observations  in  depreciation  of  poetry  writing.  But 
though,  as  we  have  seen,  not  wholly  unamenable  to 
culture,  Hasy  was  true,  heart  and  soul,  to  his  first 
love.  No  arguments  had  yet  been  able  to  shake 
his  unswerving  allegiance  to  base-ball,  and,  as  a 
consequence,  his  daily  increasing  proficiency  at  that 
game  was  giving  him  an  enviable  reputation  on  the 
diamond,  so  much  so,  that  it  was  universally  con 
ceded  that  he  would  succeed  the  "  Kid  "  as  captain 
of  the  school  nine  at  the  beginning  of  the  coming 
year.  His  fielding  was  really  remarkable  for  so 


NIP  AND  TUCK.  349 

young  a  fellow.  He  seemed  to  be  in  a  dozen  places 
at  the  same  moment,  and  the  batsman  who  dared  to 
let  anything  drive  within  a  wide  radius  of  third 
base  was  sure  to  be  discomfited.  His  base  run 
ning  was  a  marvel  to  behold,  and  his  batting  record 
by  no  means  inferior.  His  most  recent  ambition 
was  to  pitch,  and  his  twisters  had  already  brought 
him  into  repute  on  the  several  occasions  when  he 
had  been  ealled  into  the  box  to  relieve  the  "  Kid." 
In  his  studies  he  managed  to  tag  along  just  above 
the  bottom  of  the  class.  A  certain  brightness,  a 
clever  knack  of  guessing  correctly,  it  might  be 
called,  saved  him  from  absolute  disaster,  and  made 
him  popular  with  his  masters  despite  themselves. 

With  the  opening  of  their  second-class  year  both 
Jack  and  he  found  themselves  among  the  leaders 
of  the  school.  Its  cock  was  now  undeniably  Tom 
Bonsall,  who,  in  addition  to  being  a  member  of  the 
first  class,  stroke  oar  of  the  Mohicans,  and  cham 
pion  sculler  of  Utopia,  was  justly  entitled  to  be 
styled  a  rattling  good  fellow.  Tom  had,  however, 
the  air  of  feeling  his  oats,  as  the  saying  is,  in  spite 
of  the  lesson  in  humility  which  Carlisle  had  taught 
him,  and,  if  he  had  a  fault,  was  open  to  criticism 


350  JACK  HALL. 

on  the  score  of  vanity.  What  Tom  Bonsall  could 
not  do  was  not  worth  doing,  school  opinion  gen 
erally  held,  which  was  a  sentiment  full  of  danger 
to  his  career  unless  he  chanced  to  possess  an  uncom 
monly  level  head. 

Both  Tom  and  Jack  had  filled  out  amazingly  dur 
ing  this  last  twelvemonth.  Tom  was  still  the  heav 
ier  of  the  two,  and  was  a  year  older  to  boot ;  but 
his  rival  looked  beefy  enough  and  sinewy  enough 
not  to  excite  invidious  comparisons.  Indeed,  if  one 
had  looked  them  in  turn  squarely  in  the  face,  I 
think  he  would,  if  a  shrewd  judge,  have  been  struck 
by  how  clear  Jack's  eyes  were  and  how  fresh  and 
free  from  pallor  or  staleness  his  complexion  was, 
slightly  to  the  prejudice  of  Tom,  who,  to  tell  the 
truth,  had  got  a  little  into  the  habit  of  smoking 
cigarettes  and  being  careless  about  his  condition. 
It  is  pretty  hard  for  a  fellow  as  popular  as  Tom  not 
to  have  to  suit  everybody  more  or  less  in  order  not 
to  lose  ground,  and  as  Bill  French  and  two  or  three 
others  of  the  same  stamp  had  a  certain  amount  of 
influence  in  the  school,  he  thought  it  good  policy  to 
keep  on  the  right  side  of  them,  though  disapproving 
of  their  general  ways.  This  is  a  dangerous  sort  of 


NIP  AND  TUCK.  351 

game  to  play,  and  finer  fellows  at  the  start  even 
than  Tom  Bonsall  have  learned  it  to  their  cost. 

But  little  reference  of  late  has  been  made  to  the 
wily  Bill,  for  the  reason  that  after  the  tool-house 
episode  his  intimacy  with  Jack  perceptibly  waned. 
But  though  he  has  not  figured  in  these  pages,  it 
must  not  be  supposed  that  he  had  ceased  to  be  a 
potent  influence  at  Utopia,  or,  alas  !  that  he  had 
changed  in  character.  Bill's  lie  set  an  effectual 
seal  on  any  budding  virtues  that  may  have  been 
dormant  in  his  soul  and  crushed  them  hopelessly,  it 
is  to  be  feared.  Bill  was  not  a  villain,  in  the  ap 
proved  sense  of  the  word.  Quite  otherwise,  in  fact. 
He  had  plenty  of  good  points  in  that  he  was  clever, 
entertaining,  and,  on  the  whole,  amiable ;  but  the 
trouble  with  him,  as  you  have,  I  hope,  appreciated, 
was  that  he  was  a  coward.  His  tastes  and  impulses 
led  him  to  avoid  all  that  was  open  and  above  board, 
and  to  prefer  just  the  opposite.  You  remember  how 
he  displayed  these  traits  earlier  in  his  career,  and 
you  will  readily  understand  that  now,  instead  of  fol 
lowing  any  of  the  pursuits  which  the  manly  boys  at 
the  school  took  delight  in,  he  found  his  chief  grati 
fication  in  posing  as  a  flawless  dandy,  by  which  word 


,352  JACK   HALL. 

"  flawless  "  I  do  not  refer  to  his  moral  attributes  but 
to  his  personal  appearance.  Bill  and  his  set  —  for 
he  had  a  number  of  more  or  less  ardent  disciples  in 
this  proclivity — aped  with  wonderful  precision  so 
far  as  they  dared,  and  much  further  in  secret  than 
the  laws  allowed,  the  manners  of  weary  men  about 
town  who  think  they  know  everything  about  life, 
and  are  tired  of  what  they  know.  Even  in  the 
days  of  the  Big  Four  this  had  been  somewhat 
Bill's  drift,  but  he  had  developed  it  latterly  to  per 
fection. 

I  bring  him  before  you  again  that  you  may  take 
one  last  glimpse  of  him  and  his  ways,  and  form 
your  own  opinion  regarding  them  both  before  he 
vanishes  from  our  sight  forever.  I  wish  with  all 
my  heart  that  I  were  able  truthfully  to  state  that 
he  came  to  grief  before  he  left  Utopia.  To  inform 
you  that  he  was  sent  away  on  account  of  his  evil 
example  would  be  much  more  satisfactory  from  the 
point  of  view  of  romance  and  retributive  justice, 
than  to  write  as  I  am  forced  to  do,  that,  although 
he  was  suspected  and  disapproved  of  by  the  mas 
ters,  he  managed  to  keep  his  ill  doings  so  dark  that 
he  was  never  actually  found  out  up  to  that  time. 


NIP   AND   TUCK.  353 

But  we  must  take  facts  as  they  are,  not  as  we 
would  like  to  have  them.  I  do  not  wish  to  give 
you  the  idea  that  Bill  was  hopeless,  —  though  I  re 
gret  to  add  that  since  he  graduated  from  Utopia 
he  has  done  little  to  encourage  one  to  believe  that 
he  will  ever  be  a  useful  member  of  society,  —  but  it 
must  be  borne  in  mind  in  estimating  character  that 
the  stereotyped  villain  such  as  was  referred  to  just 
now  is  a-  rare  exception  except  in  city  slums,  and 
that  the  sort  of  person  most  dangerous  to  the  wel 
fare  of  our  community  as  it  exists  at  present  is 
not  the  cut-throat  or  burglar  whom  the  policeman 
knows  very  well  how  to  deal  with,  but  the  sneer 
ing  advocate  of  licentiousness  and  self-indulgence 
and  low  standards  of  honor.  Boys  like  Bill  do  not 
become  thoroughly  bad  all  at  once.  They  deterio 
rate  gradually.  One  thing  leads  to  another,  and 
though  if  no  redeeming  influence  is  brought  to  bear 
upon  them  in  time  their  degeneration  is  wofully 
certain,  there  is  often  little  about  them  to  attract 
the  unfavorable  attention  of  those  who  do  not  know 
them  well.  Sometimes  they  are  never  found  out 
at  all  by  the  world  at  large  ;  but  you  may  be  pretty 
sure  that,  as  the  years  roll  by,  if  they  do  not  reveal 


354  JACK   HALL. 

themselves  by  their  unworthy  deeds  or  the  expres 
sion  of  their  faces,  their  hearts  are  sad  and  sore. 
Life  has  lost  for  them  its  savor  even  in  an  evil  sense, 
and  everything  seems  to  them  as  the  poet  says, 
"  weary,  stale,  flat,  and  unprofitable."  But  to  be 
anxious  that  vice  should  be  its  own  punishment, 
much  less  that  wrong-doers  should  have  strict  jus 
tice  meted  out  to  them,  is  concern  unworthy  for 
thorough-going  characters  to  entertain.  Let  the 
bad  boys  go  their  ways,  and  do  not  trouble  your 
heads  with  wondering  when  and  how  they  will  be 
made  to  suffer  for  their  unrighteousness.  You  will 
have  plenty  to  do  to  guide  your  own  footsteps  and 
to  steer  clear  of  the  pitfalls  which  have  engulfed 
many  a  lad  secure  in  the  consciousness  of  his  own 
power  to  resist  temptation.  For  my  part  I  pity 
Bill  French  and  hope  sincerely  that  he  may  yet 
turn  out  a  decent  fellow. 

Meanwhile,  with  Carlisle  away  at  college,  where 
he  had  entered  with  flying  colors,  the  new  year 
saw  Jack  thrown  on  his  own  resources,  which, 
though  a  doleful  experience  at  first  on  account  of 
his  separation  from  his  dear  friend,  was  perhaps 
just  what  he  needed  to  give  force  to  his  character. 


NIP  AND  TUCK.  355 

He  had  become  one  of  the  older  boys  of  the  school, 
and  instead  of  looking  up  to  others  was  in  a  posi 
tion  to  be  looked  up  to  himself  by  the  lads  in  the 
lower  classes,  the  consciousness  of  which  was  not 
slow  to  breed  in  him  a  sense  of  responsibility  as 
to  keeping  an  eye  on  youngsters  who,  like  himself 

not  so  very  long  ago,  were   in  need  of  a  helping 

\ 

hand.  He  was  now  also  one  of  the  six  editors  of 
"  The  Utopian,"  an  honor  conferred  upon  him  in 
virtue  of  several  articles  both  in  prose  and  verse 
which  had  emanated  from  his  pen  as  a  result  of  the 
favorable  reception  accorded  to  his  Lines  on  the 
Ocean.  His  pseudonym  "  Juvenis"  was  well  known 
in  school  circles,  and  his  energy  in  securing  both 
contributors  and  subscribers  never  faltered.  He 
was  the  means  of  introducing  a  number  of  new 
features  into  the  paper,  most  popular  among  which 
was  a  series  of  florid,  but  racy  and  pertinent  obser 
vations  on  the  national  game  appearing  in  every 
issue  signed  enigmatically  "Third  Base,"  which  was 
merely  an  ostrich-like  concealment  of  the  identity 
of  the  captain  of  the  school  nine.  Haseltine  had 
regarded  the  proposition  to  become  literary  to  this 
extent  with  favor  from  the  very  outset,  and  from 


356  JACK  HALL. 

the  very  outset  also  his  lucubrations  were  so  im 
mensely  popular  that  extracts  from  them  found 
their  way  into  the  columns  of  the  real  press  of  the 
county,  much  to  the  satisfaction  of  their  author. 

But  deeply  in  earnest  as  Jack  had  grown  to  be 
in  his  efforts  to  do  his  duty  and  to  please  his 
mother,  which  two  ends  not  unnaturally  were  sy 
nonymous  in  his  mind,  and  faithfully  as  he  stuck 
to  his  school  work  during  his  year  in  the  second 
class,  he  was  looking  forward  with  anxious  but 
keen  and  determined  anticipation  to  the  day  when 
he  should  have  the  opportunity  to  row  man  for 
man  against  his  rival,  to  decide  once  for  all  which 
was  the  better  oarsman  of  the  two.  It  had  become 
a  matter  of  school  knowledge  and  discussion  that 
these  two  crack  scullers  —  for  they  were  now  both 
recognized  as  such  —  were  to  settle  this  question  at 
the  spring  races,  and  great  was  the  difference  of 
opinion  as  to  the  result.  Each  had  his  enthusiastic 
backers  who  believed  in  their  champion's  ability  to 
leave  his  opponent  far  in  the  rear,  and  but  little 
else  was  talked  about  out  of  school  hours  but  the 
respective  merits  of  Tom  Bonsall  and  Jack  Hall. 

As  Tom  was   to  graduate   this    year,  this   was 


NIP  AND   TUCK.  357 

Jack's  last  chance  to  prove  himself  his  superior. 
Consequently  neither  of  them  allowed  the  other 
to  outdo  him  in  practice,  and  though  apparently 
they  both  avoided  testing  each  other's  mettle  in 
advance,  their  respective  shells  were  visible  at 
opposite  ends  of  the  lake  at  least  once  a  day  during 
the  spring  preceding  the  race. 

Great  preparations  were  made  for  the  contest, 
and  in  order  that  the  scullers  might  be  perfectly 
fresh,  the  eight-oared  race  was  fixed  for  the  day 
after.  But  great  as  was  the  excitement,  it  was 
nothing  compared  with  what  it  became  when,  a 
week  before  the  important  event,  Dr.  Meredith 
announced  his  intention  of  competing  for  the  prize 
himself. 

The  report  ran  like  wildfire  through  the  school. 
4i  Have  you  heard  the  news  ?  "  every  one  asked  his 
neighbor.  "  The  Doctor  is  going  in  for  the  single 
sculls  against  Bonsall  and  Hall.  He  has  n't  rowed 
in  a  race,  you  know,  since  Whiteside  crawled  up 
on  him  so." 

Whiteside's  struggle  was,  of  course,  merely  a 
tradition  to  five  sixths  of  the  boys,  but  it  was  one 
which  had  been  handed  down  from  class  to  class 


358  JACK   HALL.  . 

as  an  event  yet  without  parallel  in  the  annals  of 
Utopia.  The  very  fact  that  the  Doctor  had  never 
entered  a  race  since  then  had  been  tacitly  accepted 
as  proof  that  there  were  no  longer  competitors 
among  his  pupils  sufficiently  formidable  to  render 
a  victory  on  his  part  otherwise  than  easy,  and  it  is 
needless  to  state  that  the  present  announcement 
was  regarded  as  a  profound  compliment  to  the 
condition  of  aquatics  at  the  school.  As  to  what 
the  result  of  the  race  would  be,  few  saw  room  to 
doubt.  The  Doctor  was  always  in  condition ;  the 
Doctor  was  always  in  practice ;  the  Doctor  was 
sure  to  win. 

The  opinion  of  the  many  was  shared  also  by  his 
Iwo  competitors,  who  discussed  the  matter  from 
every  standpoint.  Neither  of  them  could  hope  to 
beat  the  Doctor,  but  they  were  resolved  that  he 
should  not  carry  off  the  prize  without  pulling  for 
all  he  was  worth  from  start  to  finish.  So  Tom  and 
Jack  vowed  on  the  evening  before  the  race  as  they 
stood  side  by  side  on  the  boat-house  flat,  watching 
their  adversary  shoot  over  the  water  in  a  final 
practice  spin.  If  gritted  teeth  and  determination 
could  be  of  avail,  the  head  of  the  school  had  no 


NIP   AND    TUCK.  359 

sinecure  in  the  task  which  he  had  taken  on 
himself. 

The  appointed  day  dawned  bright  and  still.  Jack, 
who  had  lain  awake  during  the  early  hours  of  the 
night  through  excitement,  was  awakened  from  a 
deep,  refreshing  sleep  by  a  well-known  knock, 
which  caused  him  to  leap  out  of  bed  and  open  the 
door. 

"  Louis,  where  on  earth  did  you  spring  from  ? " 

"  Jack,  how  are  you?  " 

The  two  boys  stood  shaking  hands  and  laughing 
delightedly  for  some  moments  before  Carlisle  —  it 
was  he  of  course  —  saw  fit  to  explain  in  answer 
to  his  friend's  question  that  he  had  run  up  from 
college  on  purpose  to  see  the  race.  There  was  a 
leeway  of  three  days,  he  said,  between  two  of  his 
examinations,  and  he  had  managed  to  get  away. 

"  It  was  awfully  good  of  you,  Louis." 

"  Nonsense,  youngster !  I  had  promised  to  come 
if  I  could,  you  know,  and  I  would  n't  miss  it  for 
the  world." 

"  Have  you  heard  whom  I  am  to  row  against  ?  " 
asked  Jack  feverishly. 

Carlisle  nodded.     He  had  been  told  everything 


360  JACK   HALL. 

by  Horace  Hosmer  driving  up  from  the  station,  it 
appeared,  and  been  waylaid  moreover  by  half  the 
school,  eager  to  know  his  opinion  as  to  the  result, 
and  to  give  theirs. 

"  Have  I  any  show,  Louis,  do  you  think  ?  " 

"You  ought  to  know  better  than  I,  Jack.  I 
have  n't  seen  you  row  for  a  year." 

"  I  can't  bear  the  idea  of  coming  in  third.  Some 
how  I  feel  as  if  I  should  have  a  better  show  if  the 
Doctor  were  out  of  it." 

"  Too  late  to  talk  that  way  now,"  said  Carlisle. 
"You  must  brace." 

"  Oh,  I  'm  braced,  never  fear.  It 's  merely  like 
talking  to  another  self  to  talk  to  you." 

The  race  had  been  fixed  for  ten  o'clock.  The 
lake  was  reported  to  be  like  a  mirror,  and  the  day 
unexceptionable  from  an  oarsman's  point  of  view. 
Jack  ate  a  fairly  substantial  breakfast  at  eight,  and 
at  Carlisle's  suggestion  remained  quietly  until  nine 
in  his  own  room,  from  which  he  emerged  in  an 
overcoat  worn  over  his  boating  costume,  a  crimson 
and  black  striped  jersey  and  crimson  handkerchief, 
—  the  uniform  of  the  Atalantas,  —  and  a  nonde 
script  pair  of  trowsers.  Haseltine  was  waiting  be- 


NIP  AND   TUCK.  361 

fore  the  door  with  a  trap,  borrowed  from  one  of 
the  farmers,  so  as  to  spare  his  champion  the  un 
necessary  fatigue  of  a  walk,  in  which  the  three 
bestowed  themselves.  Hasy  announced  that  the 
Doctor  and  Tom  Bonsall  had  already  gone  down 
to  the  boat-house. 

The  quadrangle,  as  they  jogged  through  it,  looked 
completely  deserted,  and  not  a  head  was  to  be 
seen  in  any  of  the  dormitory  windows,  a  condition 
of  affairs  which  was  fully  accounted  for  by  the 
appearance  of  the  lake  and  its  borders  when  they 
arrived.  Every  boy  who  possessed  a  boat  was  out 
in  it,  and  the  water  was  dotted  with  every  variety 
of  craft  from  a  Rob  Roy  canoe  to  the  steam  launch 
recently  presented  to  the  school  by  a  fond  graduate, 
which  was  occupied  by  Mrs.  Meredith,  the  judges, 
and  some  of  the  principal  guests  whom  Founders' 
Day  —  as  the  annual  exhibition  was  called — had 
brought  to  Utopia.  The  launch  flew  proudly  the 
school  colors,  blue  and  white,  which  properly  were 
worn  to-day  only  by  the  Doctor,  who  was  just 
stepping  from  the  float  into  his  shell  amid  great 
applause  as  Jack  alighted  from  the  vehicle.  The 
stand,  which  had  been  erected  a  few  rods  from  the 


362  JACK   HALL. 

boat-house,  and  which  was  just  opposite  to  the 
finish,  was  crowded  with  visitors,  many  of  whom 
were  ladies  in  gay  attire,  and  the  members  of  the 
school,  while  the  country  people  from  miles  around 
were  ranged  along  the  shore.  It  was  a  scene  cal 
culated  to  quicken  the  pulses  of  any  one  with  a 
spark  of  enthusiasm.  As  for  Jack,  when  he  started 
to  strip  off  his  overcoat  he  was  trembling  all  over, 
and  could  feel  his  heart  going  like  a  trip-hammer. 

The  course  was  to  be  two  miles  in  all ;  straight 
away  for  a  mile  to  a  flagged  buoy,  and  back  again 
to  another  flagged  buoy  abreast  of  the  boat-house. 
Two  of  the  first  class  were  to  be  judges,  a  third  to 
be  judge  at  the  further  buoy,  and  Mr.  Percy  had 
consented  to  act  as  referee  in  case  of  any  dispute. 
Stoddard  of  the  second  class,  and  stroke  oar  of  the 
Nimrods,  was  to  send  the  contestants  off  by  firing 
a  pistol  at  the  proper  moment. 

Jack  was  the  last  of  the  three  to  get  into  his 
boat. 

"Is  everything  all  right?"  whispered  Carlisle, 
who  was  bending  over  him  holding  the  shell  at  the 
float.  "  Don't  spurt  until  you  have  to,  remember.'* 

"  O  K,"  answered  our  hero. 


NIP  AND  TUCK.  363 

"Let  her  go,  Smith,"  said  Haseltine  jocularly. 
"  Keep  your  courage  up,  old  man,"  he  added  to 
Jack. 

Carlisle  shoved  the  shell  out,  retaining  his  grasp 
on  the  oar  nearest  him  until  there  was  clear  water. 
Jack  paddled  a  few  rods  and  then  shot  off  at  a 
comfortable  pace  up  the  lake,  followed  by  the 
wistful  gaze  of  the  spectators  eager  to  gauge  his 
powers.  He  caught  a  glimpse  of  Tom  Bonsall,  in 
a  white  shirt  with  a  purple  star  on  its  bosom,  and 
a  purple  handkerchief  bound  stylishly  across  his 
forehead,  resting  on  his  oars  and  watching  him. 
Jack  had  no  idea  of  wasting  his  energies  by  show 
ing  off.  He  had  time  just  to  warm  himself  up  a 
bit  before  the  signal  to  get  into  line.  He  pulled 
steadily  and  quietly  for  a  few  hundred  yards,  taking 
a  last  glance  at  his  equipment  to  make  sure  that 
everything  was  all  right. 

He  had  scarcely  turned  to  come  back  when  the 
pistol  sounded,  and  by  the  time  he  reached  the 
starting  line  the  Doctor  and  Tom  were  in  position. 
According  to  the  lots  drawn  that  morning  Jack 
was  to  be  in  the  middle,  with  Tom  inside ;  so  he 
paddled  in  between  them.  Stoddard  spent  a  few 


364  JACK   HALL. 

moments  in  making  first  one  and  then  another 
retire  or  move  forward  a  few  inches,  then  asked 
sharply,  - 

"  Are  you  ready  ?  " 

Jack  felt  almost  beside  himself  in  the  short  in 
terval  that  preceded  the  discharge,  and  his  throat 
seemed  parched. 

Crack ! 

The  three  pairs  of  blades  flashed  through  the  wa 
ter  at  the  same  moment,  and  neither  boat  seemed 
to  gain  any  decided  advantage  as  they  bounded 
away  from  the  buoy  amid  the  cheers  of  everybody. 

"  Hurrah  for  the  Doctor !  " 

"  Hit  her  up,  Tom  !  " 

"  Bully  for  you,  Jack  !  " 

It  took  our  hero  some  minutes  to  get  his  head 
clear  enough  to  be  able  to  perceive  what  he  was 
doing,  as  compared  with  his  opponents.  He  rowed 
on  and  on  excitedly  without  realizing  anything, 
He  was  conscious  of  rowing  a  rather  quicker  and 
more  jerky  stroke  than  usual.  His  eyes  were  misty 
and  his  throat  drier  than  ever.  The  cheers  of  the 
spectators  were  growing  fainter,  and  he  felt  that  it 
was  time  to  settle  down  to  work.  He  made  a  gulp 


NIP  AND   TUCK.  367 

and  looked  about  him.  On  his  right  was  Tom 
pulling  like  grim  death,  at  a  rate  which  seemed  to 
lift  his  boat  almost  out  of  the  water.  The  stern  of 
Tom's  shell  was  nearly  on  a  level  with  the  back 
sweep  of  his  own  oars,  which  showed  plainly  that 
Tom  had  not  far  from  half  a  length's  lead  on  him. 
On  the  other  side  was  the  Doctor  in  his  blue  and 
white  jersey,  rowing  steadily  and  smoothly  as  clock 
work,  njeck  and  neck  with  him. 

"  Softly  now,"  said  Jack  to  himself.  "  This  is 
too  fast  company  for  me.  If  Tom  can  keep  this 
racket  up  he  '11  get  there  first.  My  only  chance  is 
to  let  up  a  bit." 

Accordingly  he  lessened  the  number  of  strokes 
to  the  minute  by  making  each  of  them  longer  and 
more  sweeping,  with  the  immediate  result  that  he 
felt  in  better  shape,  and  that  Tom  had  gained  no 
further  advantage  on  him.  But  there  was  no  let 
up  to  Tom.  He  had  the  lead  and  was  bent  on 
keeping  it. 

They  were  too  far  off  now  for  the  shouts  to  reach 
them.  Not  a  sound  was  audible  to  Jack  but  the 
slight  plashing  of  the  oars  in  the  water.  Over  his 
shoulder  Tom  was  struggling  onward,  and  abreast 


368  JACK   HALL. 

of  him,  pulling  with  apparently  no  effort  whatever 
and  watching  alertly  the  movements  of  his  rivals, 
could  be  seen  the  dangerous  Doctor.  But  Jack, 
too,  felt  calm  now  and  fresher  than  when  he  started. 
He  can  even  put  a  little  more  back  muscle  into  his 
stroke,  he  thinks,  as  he  feels  his  grip  tighten  on 
the  oars  with  the  consciousness  of  growing  vigor. 
A  few  more  sweeps  like  that  will  close  up  the  gap 
between  his  out-rigger  and  Tom's. 

But  why  does  not  the  Doctor  bend  to  his  work 
to  keep  him  company?  The  Doctor  is  pulling  a 
waiting  race  evidently,  and  is  going  to  let  his 
rivals  blow  themselves  against  one  another  before 
he  has  an  oar  in  the  fight.  Otherwise  surely  he 
would  not  have  let  Jack  forge  ahead  so  that  he  has 
to  look  round  the  corner  now  in  order  to  watch 
him.  The  Doctor  is  an  old  hand  and  has  seen 
many  a  race  lost  by  too  lively  a  pace  at  the  start. 

"  Steady,"  reflects  Jack,  again  trying  to  keep 
cool  as  he  realizes  that  he  has  a  lead  over  his  most 
dangerous  enemy.  "  Don't  hit  her  up  too  lively." 
He  appreciates  the  Doctor's  tactics,  and  is  not 
going  to  fall  into  the  trap  if  he  can  help  it,  even 
though  Tom,  spurred  on  by  swift  pursuit,  has  put 


NIP   AND   TUCK.  369 

on  more  steam  and  is  holding  his  own  bravely. 
They  are  not  far  from  the  flagged  buoy  now.  Jack 
can  see  it  distinctly  and  has  in  mind  that  he  must 
be  careful  to  avoid  a  foul.  They  are  likely  to  pass 
it  in  the  order  in  which  they  are  at  present,  about 
half  a  length  apart,  and  Tom  has  the  inside  water. 
All  three  are  pulling  like  well-oiled  machines,  and 
not  a  symptom  of  distress  comes  from  either  boat. 

Tom  -turns  first,  and  very  cleverly  too,  close  to 
the  buoy  so  as  to  give  no  one  a  chance  to  cut  in, 
and  starts  for  home,  but  the  others  are  at  his  heels 
and  right  after  him.  Jack  in  passing  catches  the 
eye  of  Sampson,  the  judge  at  the  turn,  and  feels 
cool  enough  to  nod  in  friendly  fashion.  Halfway, 
and  he  is  still  fresh  as  ever !  He  would  like  to  try 
to  press  Tom,  but  for  fear  of  the  cool,  deliberate 
Doctor  barely  astern.  He  remembers  Carlisle's 
caution  not  to  spurt  until  he  has  to,  and  only  bends 
strongly  and  firmly  to  his  accustomed  stroke,  which, 
however,  is  losing  him  no  ground  to  say  the  least. 
Tom  is  evidently  uneasy  and  is  working  to  shake 
him  off,  forgetful,  it  appears,  of  his  experience  in 
forcing  the  pace  a  year  ago.  But  Tom  is  a  better 
oar  than  a  year  ago,  and  perhaps  has  taken  that 
into  account. 


370  JACK   HALL. 

Ah  there !  The  Doctor  is  waking  up  at  last, 
and  is  putting  in  some  stronger  work ;  nothing 
very  strenuous,  but  lively  enough  to  warn  Jack  that 
he  must  have  his  head  about  him  if  he  hopes  to 
keep  his  lead  to  the  end.  One  thing  is  certain 
now:  Tom  will  have  to  row  faster  or  give  in;  after 
which  reflection  Jack  slightly  quickens  his  stroke, 
and  without,  actually  spurting  bends  every  muscle. 
Now  or  never !  They  are  only  half  a  mile  from 
home,  and  a  waiting  race  may  be  delayed  too  long. 
Already  they  are  within  ear-shot  of  the  encourag 
ing  shouts  of  the  crews  and  scullers  on  either  side 
of  their  path,  who  have  come  out  to  meet  them 
and  are  rowing  back  to  be  in  at  the  finish.  Now 
or  never !  Will  Torn  be  able  to  quicken  his  pace  ? 
That  is  the  question.  He  does  quicken  it,  so  much 
so  that  he  is  rowing  desperately  fast  with  short 
lightning  strokes,  which  come  so  rapidly  that  it  is 
difficult  to  note  the  interval  between  them.  Bril 
liant,  magnificent !  "  but,"  as  some  one  who  knew 
said  of  the  famous  charge  of  the  Light  Brigade, 
"  it  is  not  war."  It  is  slaughter,  my  dear  Tom, 
and  simple  ruination.  You  cannot  keep  it  up. 
Even  as  it  is,  in  spite  of  your  splendid  pyrotech- 


NIP  AND  TUCK.  371 

nics,  Jack's  long  steady  swing  is  holding  you,  and 
what  is  more,  pressing  you  into  the  bargain. 

"  Steady  now,"  murmurs  Jack  between  his  teeth. 
He  knows  from  Tom's  exertions  that  his  rival  is 
spurting  and  putting  all  his  vitality  into  his  pace. 
A  terrible  moment  of  sustained  effort  follows,  at 
the  end  of  which  the  leader  lashes  the  air  with  a 
misplaced  stroke,  the  water  splashes,  and  our  hero's 
shell  surging  forward  comes  on  a  level  with  its 
forerunner,  battles  with  it  for  twenty  yards  of 
struggling  agony  on  the  part  of  the  doomed  cham 
pion,  and  leaps  to  the  front  at  last,  just  in  time  to 
meet  the  sweet  music  of  the  prolonged  triumphant 
din  of  shouts  and  cheers  sent  down  the  breeze  from 
afar  by  hundreds  of  voices.  Jack  is  ahead,  and 
only  a  quarter  of  a  mile  left ! 

Tom  is  beaten.  And  now  for  the  Doctor.  Where 
is  he  ?  What  is  he  doing  ?  No  need  to  ask  that 
question,  friend  Jack,  if  you  lift  your  eyes.  Tom 
is  beaten,  not  only  by  you  but  by  the  Doctor  also ; 
and  though  your  most  dreaded  enemy  is  still  in 
your  rear,  the  nose  of  his  boat  is  almost  on  a  line 
with  your  stern,  and  he  is  quickening  at  every 
stroke. 


372  JACK  HALL. 

What  a  babel  of  cheers  and  exclamations  bursts 
forth  from  the  waving,  transported  crowd  along  the 
bank  and  on  the  benches  of  the  densely  packed 
stand !  They  begin  to  know  who  is  who  now,  and 
can  tell  beyond  the  shadow  of  a  doubt  that  the 
crimson  and  black  and  the  blue  and  white  are  hav 
ing  a  noble  struggle  for  the  lead. 

"Jack  Hall  is  ahead!  Hall!  Hall!  No,  he 
is  n't !  Hit  her  up,  Doctor  !  Hurrah  for  Hall ! 
Hurrah  for  the  Doctor !  Tom,  where  are  you  ? 
Bonsall!  Bonsall !  H-A-L-L!  Hall-1-1!" 

The  tumult  is  maddening.  Can  it  be  possible 
that  Jack  Hall,  who,  on  the  whole,  before  the  race 
was  rated  lowest  of  the  three,  is  going  to  break  the 
school  record  and  beat  the  invincible  Doctor  in  one 
and  the  same  breath?  It  looks  like  it,  if  he  can 
hold  his  own  for  two  hundred  yards  more.  It  looks 
like  it  decidedly,  and  there  is  plenty  of  clear  water 
still  between  the  winning  goal  and  the  foremost 
shell ;  and  see,  the  Doctor  is  spurting  with  a  ven 
geance —  look!  —  look!  —  and  is  he  not  gaining, 
too? 

"Doctor  Meredith  is  ahead!  No,  he's  not  — 
Hall's  ahead!  Huzza!  hurrah!  Hall,  Hall,  hit 


NIP  AND  TUCK.  373 

her  up,  Hall  !  Look  out,  Hall  !  The  Doctor  wins  ! 
No  he  does  n't  !  Hall  wins  !  Hurrah  !  Jack, 
where  are  you  ?  " 

The  Doctor  has  crept  up,  no  doubt  about  that. 
The  nose  of  his  shell  is  now  well  beyond  Jack's 
out-rigger,  and  he  is  speeding  like  the  wind.  Jack 
is  feeling  terribly  tired,  his  throat  that  he  thought 
parched  at  the  start  burns  as  if  it  were  on  fire,  and 
his  eyes 'seem  ready  to  start  out  of  his  head.  His 
crimson  handkerchief  has  fallen  over  his  eyes,  but 
he  gives  himself  a  shake  and  it  falls  to  his  neck, 
leaving  his  brow  refreshingly  free.  He  has  van 
quished  Tom  any  way.  So  much  to  be  thankful 
for.  Tom  is  a  length  behind,  struggling  still  like 
the  man  he  is,  but  hopelessly  vanquished  all  the 
same.  Jack  turns  his  head,  remembering  to  keep 
cool  if  he  can,  and  sights  the  goal.  Not  more  than 
one  hundred  and  fifty  yards  left!  The  reverber 
ating  yells  and  cheers  are  setting  his  blood  ablaze. 
He  can  scarcely  see,  but  he  knows  he  has  not 
spurted  yet.  He  is  neck  and  neck  with  the  Doctor 
now.  There  can  be  nothing  to  choose  between 
them. 

"The  Doctor  wins!"      "Not  a  bit  of  it;  Hall 


374  JACK  HALL. 

wins !  Good  on  your  head,  Jack !  Keep  it  up, 
Doctor!  Go  in,  Hall!" 

The  time  has  come  now,  our  hero  knows,  to  put 
in  any  spurt  that  is  left  in  him.  Gripping  the 
handles  of  his  oars  like  a  vice  and  shutting  his 
eyes,  Jack  throws  all  his  vital  powers  into  one 
grand  effort,  which,  to  his  supreme  happiness,  is 
answered  by  a  great  roar  from  the  shore. 

"Hall!  Hall!  Hurrah!  Nobly  done,  Hall! 
Hall  wins  !  Row,  Doctor,  row !  " 

The  Doctor  is  rowing  with  all  his  might,  you 
may  be  sure  of  that ;  but  he  has  not  counted  on 
the  staying  powers  of  his  adversary.  He  can  do  no 
more  than  he  is  doing,  and  this  final  spurt  of  Jack's, 
exhausting  as  it  must  have  been  were  the  race  to 
be  a  quarter  of  a  mile  longer,  will  carry  the  day. 
The  Doctor  can  hardly  catch  him  now. 

Jack  has  opened  his  eyes  and  takes  in  the  situa 
tion.  The  din  of  applause  is  tremendous.  If  he 
can  hold  out  for  half  a  dozen  strokes  more,  the  vic 
tory  is  his. 

One. 

"Hall!  Hall!     Go  in,  Doctor  I" 

Two. 


NIP  AND   TUCK.  375 

"  Three  cheers  for  Hall !  One,  —  hurrah  !  — 
Two,  hurrah ! " 

Three. 

"  Three,  —  hurrah  !     H-A-L-L ! " 

Four. 

"  Hall  wins  !     Hall  wins  !  " 

Five. 

"Hurrah!  Huzza!  Hurrah!  Hall!  Hall! 
Doctor  !-  Doctor  !  " 

Six. 

Panting,  breathless,  and  bewildered  by  the  deaf 
ening  cheers,  Jack  is  made  aware  only  by  the  sight 
of  the  flagged  buoy  shooting  past  his  oar-blade  that 
he  has  won  the  race  and  is  champion  of  Utopia. 
A  second  later  the  Doctor's  shell  glides  beside  his 
own,  and  his  master  is  the  first  to  shake  his  hand 
in  hearty  congratulation. 

"You  beat  me  squarely  and  fairly,  Hall.  It 
was  a  grand  race.  You  are  the  better  oarsman  of 
the  two." 

Tom  Bonsall,  coming  up  on  the  other  side,  is 
scarcely  less  generous,  though  he  looks  a  little 
sheepish,  poor  fellow,  and  winded  and  pale.  Ex 
citement  keeps  Jack  up,  and  he  paddles  in  gamy 


376 

fashion  to  the  float,  where  he  is  welcomed  by  a 
score  of  hands  and  lifted  on  to  the  shoulders  of  his 
enthusiastic  friends,  who,  cheering  like  mad,  carry 
him  up  to  the  boat-house. 

"  Well,  old  man,  you  did  it  after  all,"  said  Car 
lisle,  who  was  grinning  like  a  Cheshire  cat  in  his 
enthusiasm.  "  To  tell  you  the  truth,  I  did  n't  'be 
lieve  you  could  get  away  from  the  Doctor." 


CHAPTER   XII. 

HASELTINE  MAKES   HIS   CHOICE. 

A  YEAR  has  elapsed,  and  once  more  Founders' 
day  has  come  round  at  Utopia.  The  exercises  of 
the  graduating  class  and  the  prize-giving  have 
taken  place  in  the  morning,  and  now  every  one  is 
digesting  at  leisure  the  excellent  collation  provided 
shortly  after  noontime  prior  to  repairing  to  the 
quadrangle  to  witness  the  base-ball  match  which  is 
to  conclude  the  day's  entertainment. 

In  one  of  the  studies  in  Fullham  dormitory 
sacred  to  the  older  classes  two  boys  are  seated  en 
gaged  in  earnest  conversation.  The  room,  a  cosy 
little  den,  owes  evidently  much  of  its  comfortable 
and  somewhat  artistic  appearance  to  the  good  taste 
of  one  of  its  owners,  who,  no  other  than  our  old 
friend  Jack,  grown  still  more  manly  in  figure  and 
with  the  same  open  countenance  as  when  we  saw 
him  last,  is  discussing  with  his  chum  Haseltine  the 
untoward  news  which  the  latter  has  received  a  day 

1 


378  JACK   HALL. 

or  two  before  of  his  father's  financial  ruin.  The 
blow  has  fallen  most  unexpectedly  on  the  poor  fel 
low,  and  though  the  change  in  his  plans  which  the 
calamity  must  necessarily  induce  has  given  him  but 
small  concern  as  compared  with  that  which  he  has 
felt  for  his  father's  unhappiness,  it  is  important 
now  that  he  should  think  and  talk  about  what  he  is 
to  do.  He  was  to  have  gone  to  college,  for  which 
he  has  been  preparing  himself  with  considerable 
industry  during  the  past  year,  but  that  is  out  of  the 
question  now.  He  has  his  way  to  make  in  the 
world,  and  the  only  point  to  be  considered  is  how 
he  can  best  manage  no  longer  to  be  a  burden  on  his 
family. 

"  The  worst  thing  about  it,"  Haseltine  continued, 
"is  that  I  shan't  see  any  more  of  you,  Jack.  I 
don't  care  so  much  about  the  money  on  my  own 
account,  but  I  should  like  to  have  spent  four  years 
with  you  at  Harvard." 

"It'll  spoil  half  my  pleasure  in  being  thereto 
have  you  away,"  said  Jack.  "  We  must  manage 
though  somehow  to  keep  up  our  friendship.  We 
can  write  to  one  another  at  least." 

"  I  hate  letters,  —  that  is,   writing   them.     My 


HASELTINE  MAKES   HIS  CHOICE.  379 

spelling  would  shock  you,  Jack.  If  I  were  a  lite 
rary  character  like  you,  now,  it  might  answer." 

"  Don't  talk  nonsense,  Hasy." 

"  Who  'd  have  thought  three  years  ago  that 
you  'd  have  graduated  third  in  the  class  and  taken 
a  prize  for  a  poetical  translation  from  Ovid?  If 
only  now  I  'd  followed  suit,"  he  observed  somewhat 
sadly,  "  I  might  have  got  the  place  of  private  tutor 
to  some  rich  swell  or  other,  married  my  employer's 
daughter,  and  rolled  in  my  own  carriage,  while  you 
were  still  grinding  at  the  university.  As  it  is,  I 
shall  soon  either  be  breaking  stones  on  the  high 
way,  or  playing  cash-boy  in  a  retail  dry-goods 
store." 

"I  dare  say,"  responded  Jack,  "the  Doctor  could 
get  you  some  place  as  tutor.  A  few  months  of 
hard  work  would  give  you  the  necessary  profi 
ciency." 

"  But  I  want  to  begin  work  to-morrow." 

There  was  a  short  silence,  and  then  Jack  said 
slowly,  "  Of  course,  Hasy,  I  suppose  you  've 
thought  of  base-ball?  You  ought  to  have  no  diffi 
culty  in  getting  a  salaried  position  in  some  club, 
you  know." 


380  JACK  HALL. 

"I  dare  say  I  could,"  was  the  quiet  answer. 
"  How  I  should  have  jumped  at  such  a  chance  a 
few  years  ago  !  "  continued  the  school  captain,  toss 
ing  from  hand  to  hand  from  force  of  habit  the  base 
ball  which  he  held.  He  is  in  shirt  and  knicker 
bockers,  ready  for  the  game  appointed  to  take  place 
in  half  an  hour  between  the  school  nine  and  one 
of  the  strongest  professional  teams  in  the  country, 
•which,  on  its  way  east,  has  been  induced  to  stop  at 
Utopia.  "  I  was  a  foolish  boy  then,  —  and  now, 
well,  I'm  foolish  enough  still,  but  I  think  I've 
learned  something  in  these  six  years." 

"  Oh,  Hasy,  I  'm  so  glad  to  hear  you  talk  so.  Do 
you  know  I  lay  awake  all  last  night  thinking  about 
you,  for  I  was  afraid  that  with  your  fondness  for  the 
game  you  'd  jump  at  the  chance  to  become  a  pro 
fessional.  Forgive  me,  old  fellow,  I  did  you  injus 
tice." 

"  That 's  all  right,  Jack.  No  wonder  you  thought 
so,  I'm  such  a  base-ball  crank.  But  I  may  have  to 
jump  at  the  chance  notwithstanding.  It  may  be  the 
best  thing  I  can  do.  Fifteen  hundred  or  two  thou 
sand  dollars  a  year  is  not  to  be  met  with  every  day 
in  the  week.  It  may  be  my  duty  to  take  such  a 
place  if  it  is  offered,  Jack,"  he  said  gravely. 


HASELTINE   MAKES   HIS   CHOICE.  381 

"  I  think  almost  anything  would  be  better  as  a 
profession  than  that." 

"  I  can  see  that  it  would.  Whatever  I  used  to 
think,  I  recognize  that  to  have  to  spend  the  best 
years  of  my  life  as  a  base-ball  player  would  be  a 
terrible  misfortune.  This  school  and  the  Doctor 
have  taught  me  that  there  are  more  worthy  ambi 
tions  than  that,  and  though  I  have  n't  said  much 
about  it,  I  Ve  looked  forward  to  something  better. 
However,  I  must  n't  abuse  base-ball,  for  it  has  been 
a  good  friend  to  me,  Jack ;  and  I  believe  that  it 
has  done  me  a  heap  of  benefit  not  only  physically, 
but  in  teaching  me  endurance  and  perseverance  and 
the  value  of  discipline.  I  feel  as  if  I  could  take 
hold  first-rate  from  the  start  of  any  business  I 
entered,  just  because  of  my  training  at  base-ball. 
And  if  it  comes  to  the  worst,"  he  added,  "  I  think 
I  shall  be  able  to  make  a  good  professional." 

"  I  'm  sure  you  will,  Hasy,  if  it  comes  to  that. 
But  something  else  will  be  certain  to  turn  up,  see 
if  it  does  n't." 

"  It  '11  have  to  turn  up  pretty  soon,  then,  I  'm 
afraid,"  replied  Haseltine.  "  It 's  time  to  go,"  he 
continued,  looking  at  his  watch.  "The  game '11 


382  JACK   HALL. 

be  called  in  fifteen  minutes.  It  may  be  my  last 
for  a  long  time,  —  at  least  as  an  amateur,  —  and  I 
mean  to  give  the  Gray  Stockings  a  hard  fight 
to  win." 

The  two  friends  proceed  toward  the  quadrangle, 
where  already  a  crowd  is  collecting  in  anticipation 
of  the  match.  The  large  stand  for  spectators,  which 
is  one  of  the  conveniences  added  to  the  grounds  in 
Haseltine's  day,  is  rapidly  filling  up,  and  just  as 
the  young  captain  arrives  upon  the  scene  the  Gray 
Stocking  team  show  signs  of  emerging  from  the 
tent  erected  for  their  comfort,  where  they  have  been 
dozing  since  dinner.  The  sight  of  them  is  suffi 
cient  to  restore  Haseltine's  spirits,  and  almost  to 
make  him  feel  that  he  would  be  very  well  content 
after  all  to  become  one  of  them.  They  are  strap 
ping  fellows  certainly,  and  the  way  they  toss  about 
the  ball  during  the  few  minutes'  preliminary  prac 
tice  allowed  them  is  very  admirable. 

And  now  from  the  main  doorway  of  Granger  Hall 
come  out  a  large  party  intent  upon  being  present 
at  the  game,  consisting  of  Dr.  Meredith  and  his 
masters,  together  with  several  patrons  of  the  school 
and  a  number  of  ladies,  who  troop  across  the  field 


HASELTINE   MAKES   HIS   CHOICE.  383 

to  seats  reserved  for  them  behind  the  wire  screen 
at  the  back  of  the  catcher.  The  Gray  Stockings 
have  won  the  toss  and  have  sent  the  school  to  the 
bat.  The  professionals,  from  their  jocose  demeanor, 
evidently  regard  the  affair  in  the  light  of  a  spree 
or  picnic ;  and  the  pitcher  grins  convulsively  in 
stepping  into  the  box,  as  though  the  idea  of  playing 
ball  against  a  parcel  of  boys  struck  him  as  a  colos 
sal  jest. 

The  school  nine  looked  like  striplings  certainly 
when  compared  with  their  sturdy  opponents,  but 
they  are  in  the  very  pink  of  practice  and  condition, 
and  have  moreover  eaten  sparingly  of  the  good 
things  provided  at  the  collation,  so  as  to  be  fit  as 
possible  for  the  match.  A  breathless  interest  per 
vades  the  audience.  A  game  against  a  real  profes 
sional  team  is  something  unknown  in  the  annals 
of  Utopia. 

"  Three  out,  side  out,"  calls  the  umpire,  as  the 
third  striker  on  the  home  nine  knocks  an  easy 
grounder  to  short  stop,  who  pops  it  gayly  to  first 
base. 

It  is  now  the  visitors'  turn  at  the  bat,  and  all 
eyes  are  bent  on  Haseltine  as  he  plants  himself 


384  JACK  HALL. 

firmly  to  deliver  the  first  ball.  There  has  never 
been  such  a  pitcher  as  he  at  Utopia.  As  compared 
with  his  curves,  the  once  famous  pitching  of  the 
"  Kid "  is  remembered  as  second-rate.  It  has 
hopelessly  baffled  not  only  the  pertinacious  Stars, 
but  other  still  more  formidable  clubs.  It  remains 
to  be  seen  what  these  genuine  ball-tossers  will  do 
with  it. 

"  One  strike  !  " 

The  captain  of  the  Gray  Stockings  and  one  of 
the  most  prominent  sluggers  on  the  nine  has  swiped 
at  the  first  ball  and  missed  it,  whereat  his  compan 
ions  smile  and  one  of  them  guys  him  with  — 

"  Even  money  you  strike  out,  Bill." 

There  is  a  hush,  and  then  the  umpire  calls  — 

"  Two  strikes !  " 

Applause  proceeds  from  the  benches  and  titters 
from  the  visiting  team. 

"  Three  strikes  —  out." 

The  school  is  too  much  in  earnest  to  regard  the 
incident  as  ludicrous,  and  the  crowd  cheers  raptu 
rously  to  see  the  vanquished  slugger  retire  from  the 
plate  ;  but  one  of  the  managers  of  the  professional 
nine,  who  happens  to  be  traveling  with  them  and  is 


HASELTINE  MAKES  HIS  CHOICE.  385 

sitting  just  in  front  of  Jack,  bursts  out  into  loud 
guffaws  of  amusement,  which  are  repeated  still 
more  abundantly  when  the  next  striker  misses  the 
first  two  balls  and  only  saves  himself  from  a  simi 
lar  fate  by  batting  the  third  weakly  into  the  very 
hands  of  short  stop,  who  has  no  difficulty  in  disposing 
of  him  at  first.  The  third  man  hits  a  foul  tip  which 
the  catcher  holds  on  to  cleverly,  and  the  innings 
is  over. 

•"  That 's  a  great  lad,"  exclaims  the  manager,  who 
is  in  a  bee  line  with  the  pitcher  and  so  can  judge 
of  the  delivery.  "  He  can  twirl  the  sphere  like  a 
good  one.  Backus  and  Lawson  out  on  strikes ! 
That 's  the  best  joke  of  the  season."  Whereupon 
he  bursts  out  laughing  again,  so  that  his  fat  sides 
shake  with  merriment. 

It  would  take  too  long  to  give  the  details  of  the 
great  match,  though  indeed  there  is  not  much  to  be 
recorded  in  the  way  of  run-making  on  either  side. 
It  is  from  first  to  last  a  pitcher's  contest,  and  though 
the  school  can  do  nothing  against  the  Gray  Stock 
ing  battery,  seven  goose-eggs  represents  the  score 
of  the  visitors  at  the  end  of  the  seventh  inning. 
To  the  uproarious  delight  of  all  Utopia  the  heavy 


386  JACK  HALL. 

hitters  of  the  professional  team  come  to  grief  one 
after  another  in  rapid  succession,  sometimes  by 
striking  out,  and  sometimes  by  knocking  easy  balls 
into  the  field,  which  are  without  difficulty  captured 
by  their  opponents.  No  longer  do  the  giants  grin 
and  turn  derisive  hand-springs.  An  air  of  serious 
devotion  to  business  has  come  over  them,  and  every 
nerve  is  being  strained  to  save  the  game. 

"Play  ball  —  play  ball,"  their  captain  reiterates 
with  increasing  vigor. 

But  it  is  in  vain  that  he  beseeches  or  commands. 
Somehow  or  other  Haseltine's  curves  are  too  subtle 
for  the  visitors  and  they  go  down  like  nine-pins  ; 
and  as  in  turn  they  sheepishly  carry  out  their  bats 
or  return  to  home  plate,  the  manager's  derisive 
laughter  adds  a  sting  to  their  disgust. 

Meanwhile,  among  the  friends  of  Utopia,  the 
young  pitcher  is  the  hero  of  the  hour,  and  every 
body  is  asking  questions  about  him  in  the  intervals 
of  the  frantic  applause  which  rewards  his  successes. 

"  A  right-minded,  ingenuous,  capable  boy,"  re 
sponds  Dr.  Meredith,  in  answer  to  a  query  of  one 
of  the  patrons  of  the  school  sitting  beside  him. 
"  He  has  received  -sad  news  from  home  within  the 


HASELTINE   MAKES   HIS  CHOICE.  387 

past  few  days,  I  regret  to  state.  His  father  who 
was  reputed  to  be  a  very  rich  man  has  failed,  — 
disastrously  though  not  dishonorably  I  am  given  to 
understand,  —  and  the  son  will  not  be  able  to  go  to 
college  as  he  had  expected.  There  is  a  large 
family  —  seven  beside  this  boy,  I  believe." 

"  Is  he  a  good  scholar  ?  "  asks  the  gentleman 
after  a  moment. 

"  To  tell  the  truth,  he  is  not  very  fond  of  his 
books,  though  he  has  done  better  at  them  during 
the  last  year.  I  think  he  would  have  been  able  to 
pass  the  college  examinations,  but  it  is  by  no  means 
certain.  He  has  plenty  of  ability  though  of  the 
practical  sort.  I  have  often  been  struck  by  the 
energy  and  executive  talent  he  has  shown  in  rela 
tion  to  base-ball,  which,  by  the  way,  almost  amounts 
to  a  passion  with  him,"  says  the  Doctor,  with  a 
smile. 

A  shout  of  triumph  interrupts  their  conversation. 
Another  of  the  Gray  Stockings  —  the  first  striker 
of  the  eighth  innings  —  having  in  base-ball  par 
lance  fanned  the  air  thrice  in  vain,  flinging  his  bat 
angrily  on  the  ground,  walks  back  to  his  seat. 

"  H-A-S-E-L-T-I-N-E  !  Haselti-n-n-ne  !  "  chants 
the  whole  school. 


388  JACK  HALL. 

The  manager  slaps  his  knee.  "  I  must  have  that 
fellow,"  he  exclaims  admiringly. 

Jack  catches  the  remark.  He  has  heard  also 
what  has  passed  between  Dr.  Meredith  and  Mr. 
Holgate,  the  patron  of  the  school,  who  are  sitting 
on  the  bench  immediately  behind  him,  and  while 
he  is  reflecting  on  the  possible  consequences  of 
Haseltine's  prowess,  he  hears  Mr.  Holgate  say  : 

"  I  happen  to  know  of  a  chance  for  an  active 
young  man  who  is  n't  afraid  of  work,  on  a  railroad 
far  West  in  which  I  'm  interested.  I  'm  inclined  to 
think  that  as  our  base-ball  friend  has  his  way  to 
make  in  the  world  and  is  not  cut  out  for  a  scholar, 
it  would  be  the  best  thing  for  him  if  I  put  him  into 
the  place,  though  if  you  say  the  word  I  '11  pay  his 
way  through  college." 

Jack's  heart  gives  a  bound.  He  cannot  help  lis 
tening,  and  he  awaits  eagerly  the  Doctor's  reply, 
scarcely  knowing  what  he  wishes  it  to  be;  for 
deeply  as  he  desires  his  friend's  companionship  at 
Harvard,  he  is  able  to  appreciate  the  wisdom  of 
Mr.  Holgate's  reasoning. 

"  I  think,"  says  Dr.  Meredith  slowly,  "  that  you 
are  right,  on  the  whole.  Haseltine  will  make  an 


HASELTINE  MAKES  HIS  CHOICE.  389 

excellent  business  man.  The  position  on  the  rail 
road  will  suit  him  best,  everything  considered." 

"  It  is  a  place  in  which  he  will  have  an  opportu 
nity  to  make  himself  very  useful,  and  if  he  does, 
promotion  will  be  sure  to  follow,"  continues  Mr. 
Holgate.  "  Holloa  !  that 's  the  first  square  base  hit 
I  've  seen  to-day." 

It  is  not  only  a  base  hit,  but  a  two  bagger  in  fact, 
which  comes  just  in  the  nick  of  time  to  let  in  one 
of  the  Gray  Stockings,  who  was  on  second  when 
Captain  Backus  batted  the  ball  with  a  vim  born  of 
triple  humiliation.  Twice  before  in  the  course  of 
the  game  the  visitors  have  had  men  on  bases,  but 
the  terrible  battery  of  the  school  boys  has  shut 
them  out  from  a  run.  But  now  they  are  able  to 
breathe  more  freely.  The  succession  of  goose-eggs 
is  interrupted  and  the  game  theirs,  if  they  can  pre 
vent  Utopia  from  scoring.  But  the  run  has  come 
only  just  in  time  as  two  of  the  visitors  are  already 
out.  Lawson,  however,  not  to  be  outdone  by  the 
Captain,  follows  with  a  terrible  drive  far  over  the 
left  field's  head,  who  is  a  no  whit  less  clever  fielder 
than  Bobby  Crosby  used  to  be,  which  brings  him 
and  Backus  both  home,  and  makes  the  score  three 


390  JACK  HALL. 

to  nothing  in  favor  of  the  Gray  Stockings,  which 
is  all  they  get.  The  school  nine  amid  intense  ex 
citement  then  go  to  the  bat,  and  though  they  do 
their  best  to  pound  the  ball  they  are  whitewashed 
in  one,  two,  three  order,  which  brings  the  game 
to  a  close,  as  of  course  the  Gray  Stockings,  being 
already  ahead,  do  not  need  their  ninth  inning.  It 
has  been  a  plucky  fight,  though,  and  one  which 
Utopia  will  remember  with  pride  for  years  to  corne. 

As  Jack  was  about  to  mingle  with  the  crowd 
with  the  view  of  being  the  first  to  hug  Haseltine, 
he  felt  a  hand  on  his  shoulder  and  heard  the  Doc 
tor's  voice  exclaiming,  "  Hall,  I  should  like  to  in 
troduce  you  to  Mr.  Holgate,  who  was  one  of  our 
founders,  you  know." 

Jack  shook  hands  with  the  pleasant-featured 
gentleman,  who  said  kindly  : 

"  I  saw  you,  Hall,  if  I  am  not  mistaken,  among 
those  who  received  prizes  this  morning,  as  well  as 
in  the  winning  crew  yesterday  afternoon." 

Our  hero  blushed  with  honest  confusion.  He 
was  prouder  of  having  won  the  prize  for  a  metrical 
translation  from  the  classics,  however,  than  of  hav 
ing  led  the  Atalantas  to  victory,  for  there  had  been 


HASELTINE  MAKES  HIS  CHOICE.  391 

no  Tom  Bonsall  this  year  to  dispute  it  with  him, 
and  every  one  knew  in  advance  what  the  result 
would  be.  It  had  always  been  a  source  of  keen 
regret  to  Jack  that  Tom's  arm  was  so  lame  after 
the  famous  single-scull  match  that  he  had  been 
obliged  to  stay  out  of  the  eight-oared  race.  He 
would  have  liked  to  have  had  one  more  struggle 
with  his  old  rival  just  to  prove  beyond  the  shadow 
of  a  doubt  who  was  the  better  man.  But  now  Tom 
was  in  college,  and  there  was  no  one  left  to  dispute 
with  him  the  supremacy  of  the  lake,  for  the  Doctor 
had  openly  confessed  his  own  inferiority. 

"  It  was  a  fine  game,  sir,  was  n't  it?  "  Jack  said, 
with  enthusiasm,  as  the  three  turned  at.  the  sound 
of  the  cheers  which  the  Utopians  were  bestowing 
upon  the  victors.  "  Haseltine  outdid  himself." 

"  Hall  and  Haseltine  are  great  cronies,"  observed 
the  Doctor  to  Mr.  Holgate. 

"  Your  friend  seems  a  fine  fellow,"  said  the  gen 
tleman. 

"  He  's  a  splendid  fellow,  indeed,  sir,"  answered 
Jack. 

The  Gray  Stockings  returned  the  cheers  of  the 
home  nine  and  were  preparing  to  get  into  the 


392  JACK  HALL. 

vehicle  which  was  to  take  them  to  the  train,  when 
Jack,  who  had  been  looking  through  the  crowd  in 
search  of  Haseltine,  caught  sight  of  him  and  the 
base-ball  manager  in  earnest  consultation.  There 
was  an  expression  in  his  friend's  face  that  told 
Jack  even  at  this  distance  that  the  young  pitcher 
was  fascinated  by  what  was  being  said  to  him.  Im 
mediately  Jack  clambered  down  from  the  stand  and 
hastened  toward  them.  As  he  came  up  to  them 
the  manager  was  shaking  hands  with  Haseltine,  and 
Jack  heard  him  say  just  before  he  stepped  into  the 
omnibus : 

"  Think  it  over  and  write  me.  The  offer  stands 
open  as  long  as  you  like." 

After  the  omnibus  had  driven  off  followed  by  the 
acclamations  of  the  school,  Jack  threw  his  arms 
ecstatically  around  his  chum  and  cried,  "  You  did 
wonders,  old  fellow.  It  was  glorious  !  " 

Haseltine  made  no  response  at  first,  and  Jack 
noticed  that  his  eyes  were  full  of  tears. 

"Jack,"  he  said  at  length,  —  "  he  has  offered  me 
the  position  of  change  pitcher  on  their  nine  at  a 
salary  of  two  thousand  dollars.  It 's  a  big  honor 
for  so  young  a  fellow,"  he  added,  with  an  air  of 
pardonable  pride. 


HASELTINE   MAKES   HIS   CHOICE.  393 

"  But  you  did  n't  accept,  did  you  ?  "  asked  our 
hero  excitedly. 

"  No  ;  I  told  him  I  'd  think  it  over." 

"  Hurrah  !  "  cried  Jack. 

"  What  do  you  mean  ?  " 

"  No  matter.  Wait,  that 's  all.  There 's  better 
news  for  you  than  that,  and  you  '11  think  so  too 
when  you  hear  it." 

Footsteps  close  at  hand  caused  the  boys  to  turn, 
and  Haseltine's  hand  was  cordially  grasped  by  Dr. 
Meredith. 

"You  out-Haseltined  Haseltine,  to-day,  Mr. 
Pitcher,"  the  master  said,  then  drawing  him  aside 
out  of  the  hearing  of  Jack  and  Mr.  Holgate,  he 
informed  him  of  the  offer  made  by  that  gentle 
man,  which  I  am  sure  you  will  all  be  glad  to  hear 
he  accepted. 

Five  minutes  later  the  head  master  and  the  two 
boys  are  walking  slowly  over  the  quadrangle  to 
ward  Granger  Hall,  where  they  are  to  take  tea 
•with  the  Doctor,  —  their  last  tea  at  Utopia.  As 
they  reach  the  threshold,  Jack  stops  and  looks  back 
for  a  moment  over  the  playground  where  so  many 
of  his  happiest  hours  have  been  passed,  and  says 
simply,  — 


394  JACK   HALL. 

"  We  shall  miss  the  dear  old  school,  shan't  we, 
Hasy?" 

"  Indeed  we  shall,  Jack." 

"  And  the  school  will  miss  you,  my  dear  boys," 
answers  the  Doctor,  laying  a  hand  on  a  shoulder  of 
each  of  them.  "It  needs  the  example  of  just  such 
boys  as  you  —  East  and  West.  God  bless  you 
both,  and  give  you  strength  to  devote  your  man 
hood  to  manly  deeds  1  " 


A 

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